DCUGIHIT  FK0H 
Meyer  Donation 


THE 


LITE    AND    TIMES 


OF 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN, 


SIXTEENTH 


PRESIDENT   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


INCLUDING    HIS 


SPEECHES,   MESSAGES,   INAUGURALS,   PROCLAMATIONS,   ETC.,    ETC. 


BY 

L.     P.     BROCKET  T,     M.D. 

AUTHOR   OF    "OUR  GREAT    CAPTAINS,"     "HISTORY   OF    THE   CIVIL   WAR    IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES;  PHILANTHROPIC:  ISSUES  OF  THE\Y/R,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
BRADLEY   &   CO,   66   K  FOURTH  STREET, 

ROCHESTER,  N.  Y:— R.  H.  CURRAN. 

JONES  BROTHERS  &  CO.,  CINCINNATI  AND  PHILADELPHIA. 

P.  R.  RANDALL,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

1865. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1H65,  by 

BRADLEY    &     CO., 

In  the  Ck-rk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and 
for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


i  -•  «       '  v\  '  M 

S.     A.     GEORGE, 

8TSRSOTYPER,  ELECTROTYPER  AND  PRIX'J  KH, 
IW  N.  SKVKNTH  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA. 


PREFACE. 


"  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  !"  and 
why,  'pray,  add  another  to  the  many  memoirs  of  him  already 
published? 

Because,  dear  reader,  there  was  need  of  just  one  more.  Lis 
ten,  and  we  will  prove  it.  The  memoirs  and  biographies  of 
our  late  President,  which  have  already  appeared,  are,  some  of 
them,  from  able  pens,  and  clearly  and  fairly  accomplish  the 
object  for  which  they  were  written.  Without  exception,  we 
believe,  they  belong  to  the  class  of  campaign  biographies; 
some  written  before  his  first,  others  during  the  canvass  which 
preceded  his  second,  election.  Their  principal  object  was,  of 
course,  political.  They  have  not,  we  think,  dealt  in  misrepre 
sentation  ;  there  was  no  need  of  that.  But  thoy  have  presented 
him  as  a  fit  and  proper  candidate  for  the  office  of  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  for  this  purpose  they  have  dwelt  largely 
upon  his  previous  political  career  in  Congress ;  in  the  Senatorial 
canvass;  in  the  closing  portion  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  presidency; 
and  some  of  them  on  the  stupendous  events  of  the  four  years  of 
his  first  administration,  and  the  policy  he  pursued  during  that 
long  period  of  darkness  and  gloom.  This  is  all  right  and  ad 
mirable  in  its  way,  and  were  there  any  question  of  a  campaign 
life  of  the  Good  President,  were  he  still  with  us,  and  still  a  candi 
date  for  the  highest  honors  a  grateful  people  could  bestow,  we 
should  say  at  once,  "  that  which  is  written  is  sufficient ;  we  can 
add  nothing  to  a  record  so  pure  and  honorable." 

But  this  is  not  the  time  for  a  campaign  life  of  Abraham 

(9) 

297747 


PREFACE. 


Lincoln.  He  whom  he  served  with  singleness  of  heart  here, 
hath  called  him  up  higher,  and  henceforth  his  place  is  with 
the  glorified,  whose  brows  are  illumined  with  the  pure  and 
holy  light  which  proceeds  from  the  throne  of  God. 

We  could  not  if  we  would,  and  we  would  not  if  we  could, 
attempt  a  political  life  of  him  whose  loss  we,  as  well  as  the 
nation,  most  deeply  moarn.  We  have  no  fondness  for  the  de 
vious  track  of  party  politics,  no  desire  to  pander  to  so  grovel 
ling  and  base-born  an  ambition.  But  we  have  loved  Abraham 
Lincoln  as  a  child  might  love  a  father;  we  have  confided  in 
him,  have  trusted  his  sagacity,  have  honored  his  patriotism, 
have  admired  that  sterling  common  sense  which  led  him  to 
judge  so  wisely,  to  act  so  honorably  and  justly,  and  to  meet 
questions  of  such  difficulty  with  such  a  wise  and  clear  dis 
crimination. 

We  desired  to  prepare  this  life  of  him,  that  we  might  exhibit 
him  as  he  appeared  and  was,  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  a  man 
of  the  people,  hardy,  Iaborj0rts,  and  self-reliant—  a  self-made 
man  in  the  best  sense  of  that  title  —  studious,  desirous  ever  to 
make  up  the  deficiencies  of  education  entailed  by  a  frontier 
life,  and  of  a  rare  teachable  spirit;  an  honest,  frank,  manlij  man, 
one  in  whom  his  neighbors  and  friends  could  trust  most  im 
plicitly;  a  pattern  man  in  his  fidelity  to  truth  and  principle  and 
right.     We  have  sought  also  to  delineate  him  in  his  domestic 
and  social  relations,  as  a  dutiful  son,  a  kind  and  tender  hus 
band,  a  loving  father,  a  genial  and  social  friend,  with  a  keen 
sense  of  humor,  great  conversational  powers,  and  a  fascinating 
way  which,  though  his  form  was  ungainly,  won  him  the  love 
of  all  who  were  thrown  in  his  society.     And  it  has  been  our 
aim  also  to  depict  him  as  he  appeared  in  public  life,  a  clear 
and  lucid  speaker,  a  skilful  debater,  who  won  the  hearts  of  his 
audience  to  his  own  side,  not  by  trick  or  subterfuge,  but  by  his 
apt  and  effective  way  of  "putting  things;"  clinching  a  point 
often  by  a  telling  illustration,  which,  however  homely  it  might 
be,  was  never  out  of  place  ;   a  statesman  whose  enlarged  per- 


PREFACE.  11 

ceptions  and  breadth  of  view  took  in  all  the  bearings  of  the 
great  questions  which  have  agitated  the  public  mind  in  the 
last  five  years ;  a  man  who,  acting  slowly,  with  calmness  and 
great  deliberation,  never  made  a  mistake  in  regard  to  a  prin 
ciple,  and  never  indulged  a  thought  of  self,  but  always  sought 
his  country's  good;  a  chief  magistrate,  who  though  reviled 
reviled  not  again,  but  with  an  almost  angelic  patience,  sought 
to  do  good  to  those  who  despitefully  used  him ;  a  diplomatist 
who  believed  that  truth,  honesty  and  frankness  were  better 
weapons  for  managing  the  intricate  questions  of  our  foreign 
policy,  than  deceit,  duplicity,  and  "  paltering  in  a  double  sense." 
And  if  some  "  good  angel  will  guide  our  pencil  while  we  draw," 
we  would  portray  him  also,  as  the  Christian,  in  public  and 
private  life,  seeking  counsel  from  above,  and  amid  all  his  weighty 
cares  and  his  wearying  burdens,  looking  to  God  for  guidance, 
and  devoutly  acknowledging  his  indebtedness  to  him  for  every 
blessing.  Having  thus  shown  his  character  as  it  was  in  life, 
we  would  also  venture,  though  with  eyes  bedimmed  with  tears, 
to  draw  aside  the  veil,  and  describe  how  the  demon  slavery, 
possessing  the  heart  and  firing  the  brain  of  the  wretched  assas 
sin,  led  him  to  commit  a  deed  which  shall  consign  him  to  eternal 
infamy ;  and  how,  all  over  our  land,  and  throughout  Christen 
dom,  at  the  tidings  of  his  death,  a  wail  of  anguish  went  up  to 
heaven  from  millions  of  stricken  hearts,  who  had  recognized  in 
him  the  second  founder  of  the  Eepublic,  the  Emancipator,  the 
one  historic  name  which  shall  go  down  to  posterity,  linked  in 
our  country's  history,  with  that  of  Washington. 

With  such  a  purpose,  we  submit  that  there  are  ample  reasons, 
as  there  is  abundant  room,  for  a  new  memoir  of  our  martyred 
President  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER 21 

CHAPTER  I. 

ABRAHAM   LINCOLN'S    BOYHOOD   IN    KENTUCKY. 

His  Ancestry— Their  Residence  in  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia— His 
Grandfather  moves  over  into  Kentucky — Is  killed  by  an  Indian — 
His  widow  settles  in  Washington  County — His  son,  Thomas 
Lincoln,  marries  and  locates  near  Hodgenville — Birth  of  Abraham 
Lincoln— La  Rue  County— His  Early  Life  and  Training  in  Ken 
tucky — Removal  of  the  Family  to  Indiana 27 

CHAPTER  II. 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN'S    THIRTEEN    YEARS    IN    INDIANA. 

Removal  of  the  Lincoln  Family  to  Spencer  county,  Indiana — Abra 
ham  as  a  Farm  Boy — As  a  Marksman — The  Death  of  his  Mother — 
The  second  Marriage  of  his  Father — Abraham's  Education — His 
own  Account,  when  President,  of  his  Education — His  love  of 
Books — The  Story  of  the  Damaged  Book — His  Yoyage  to  New 
Orleans  as  a  Flatboatman — Description  of  Early  Times  and  Scenes 
in  Indiana 30 

CHAPTER  III. 

LINCOLN    IN    ILLINOIS,    AS   A    RAIL-SPLITTER,    A    CLERK,    AND   A   VOLUNTEER. 

Removal  of  the  Family  to  Illinois — Abraham  figures  as  a  Rail-Splitter 
— As  a  Hunter — Another  Removal  of  his  Father — Abraham  com 
mences  Life  on  his  own  Account — Makes  a  trip  to  New  Orleans — 
Becomes  a  Clerk  in  a  Country  Store — Is  elected  a  Captain  of  a 
Volunteer  Company  and  serves  in  the  Black  Hawk  War — Anecdote 
concerning  his  temperate  Habits — His  own  humorous  Account  of 

his  Services  in  this  War — His  Character  as  a  Soldier 51 

(13) 


14  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IY. 

MR.    LINCOLN    AS    A    POLITICIAN. 

He  becomes  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  but  is  defeated — Becomes 
a  storekeeper  and  postmaster — Commences  the  study  of  law — 
Studies  and  practices  surveying — Is  elected  to  the  Legislature — 
Re-elected  for  a  second  term — Defines  his  position  on  the  subject  of 
domestic  slavery — Is  elected  for  a  third  and  fourth  time,  to  the 
Legislature — Is  admitted  to  the  practice  of  law — His  character 
istics  as  a  lawyer — Thrilling  incident  of  his  law  practice — His 
associates  of  the  Springfield  Bar — Enters  warmly  into  the  Presi 
dential  Canvass  of  1840— Accepts,  in  1842,  the  Whig  nomination 
for  Congress — Establishes  his  home  at  Springfield — His  marriage.  70 


CHAPTER  Y. 

MR.    LINCOLN    IN    CONGRESS    AND    "  ON    THE    STUMP." 

Is  sent  to  Congress  in  1847 — His  record  while  there—Resumes  the 
practice  of  Law— Enters  warmly  into  the  campaign  of  1854— 
Measures  swords  with  Douglas— Engages  in  the  Presidential  cam 
paign  of  1858— Is  nominated  for  United  States  Senator — The  cele 
brated  debates  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas— His  tribute  to  the 
Declaration  of  Independence — Pen-portraits  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  during 
his  campaign — Story,  relating  to  the  Harper's  Ferry  Invasion — 
Story  of  his  duel  with  Hardin— Goes  to  Ohio,  to  aid  in  the  canvass 
there — Extracts  from  his  speeches — Gives  a  helping  hand  to  the 
canvass  in  the  Eastern  States — His  great  Cooper  Institute  Speech 
— Touching  Scene  in  New  York 91 


CHAPTER  YI. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'S  NOMINATION  AND  ELECTION  TO    THE    PRESIDENCY    OF    THH 

UNITED    STATES. 

His  nomination  by  the  Republican  National  Convention Exciting 

Scenes — How  he  received  the  News — Its  Official  Announcement  to 
him — His  Letter  of  Acceptance — The  Composition  of  the  Parties, 
and  the  Canvass  of  1860 — He  is  elected  President  of  the  United 
States — Campaign  Song,  "  Abe  of  the  West" .  155 


CONTENTS.  15 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    GATHERING    STORM    IN    THE    SOUTHERN    POLITICAL    HORIZON. 

Traitorous  movements  in  the  South — Duplicity  of  Southern  men  in 
the  Cabinet — Imbecility  or  complicity  of  President  Buchanan — 
Secession  of  South  Carolina— The  Montgomery  (Ala.)  Convention 

Formation  of  the  new  Confederacy — Election  of  Davis  as  its 

Head — Policy  of  the  Confederacy  towards  the  United  States — 
Opinions  of  the  Rebel  Leaders — Resignation  of  Southern  men  from 
the  United  States  Cabinet  and  Congress — Course  of  Events  at  the 
North — The  Crittenden  Compromise — Resolutions  of  the  House — 
The  Peace  Convention,  and  its  Resolutions 179 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  INAUGURAL  TOUR  TO  WASHINGTON. 

His  farewell  at  Springfield,  111. — Addresses  at  Toledo,  Indianapolis, 
Cincinnati,  Steubenville,  Pittsburg,  Cleveland,  Syracuse,  Utica, 
Albany,  Poughkeepsie — His  grand  reception  at  New  York  City — 
Arrives  at  Newark,  N.  J. — Trenton — Is  received  at  Philadelphia — 
Visits,  and  helps  to  raise  a  flag  on  "  Independence  Hall" — Stops  at 
Harrisburg — Makes  a  sudden  appearance  in  Washington — Escapes 
a  plot  for  his  Assassination — Is  welcomed  by  the  city  authorities 
of  Washington,  and  addresses  them 199 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM  THE  INAUGURATION  TO  THE  EXTRA  SESSION    OF    CONGRESS,  JULY  4,  1861. 

The  Inaugural  Address — Mr.  Lincoln's  first  Cabinet — Changes  in  the 
Departments — Difficulties  which  surrounded  the  New  Administra 
tion — The  attack  on  Fort  Sumter — Its  effect,  North  and  South — 
The  President's  Proclamation — The  Northern  States  rally  to  the 
aid  of  the  Government — The  troubles  at  Baltimore — Mr.  Lincoln's 
answer  to  the  Committee  of  the  Virginia  Convention — Prepara 
tions  for  War — Foreign  Policy  of  the  Administration 234 


V 


16  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE     EXTRA     SESSION     OF     CONGRESS,    AND     THE     FIRST     UNFOLDING8     OF    THH 
POLICY    OF    EMANCIPATION. 

The  Extra  Session  of  Congress — Mr.  Lincoln's  first  Annual  Message 
—  He  is  strongly  sustained  by  the  action  of  Congress,  and  the 
sentiment  of  the  people — The  disastrous  Battle  of  Bull  Run,  July 
21st,  1861— General  McClellan  succeeds  General  Scott  in  command 
of  the  National  armies — General  Butler's  theory  and  practice  in 
regard  to  fugitive  slaves  applying  for  protection--  ife  decides  them 
to  be  "  contraband  of  war" — His  view  indorsed  uy  Government — 
Fremont  issues  an  Emancipation  Proclamation — It  is  vetoed  by 
the  President — The  Trent  affair,  and  its  results 271 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE    EMANCIPATION    ACT. 

The  public  mind  is  gradually  prepared  for  Emancipation — The  Presi 
dent's  Message  favoring  gradual  Emancipation— The  Abolition  of 
Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia — General  Hunter's  Emancipa 
tion  Order,  and  its  revocation  by  the  President — Conference  with 
the  Border  States  Senators — Orders  from  the  President,  through 
the  War  Department,  relative  to  Slavery— Letter  from  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  General  Butler — Confiscation  Bill — Greeley's  Letter  to 
the  President — The  President's  Reply — His  reply  to  a  Memorial 
from  the  Clergymen  of  Chicago — Letters  of  Charles  Sumner  and 
Owen  Lovejoy — THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION — Suspension  of 
the  Habeas  Corpus — Proclamation  of  Freedom,  January  1st,  1863 
— Mr.  Carpenter's  "Inside  History"  of  the  Emancipation  Pro 
clamation — Reminiscences  by  the  Rev.  M.  D.  Con  way 292 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    MILITARY    OPERATIONS    OF    THE    YEAR    1862. 

OPERATIONS  IN  THE  WEST  AND  SOUTHWEST — Battle  of  Mill  Spring, 
Ky. — The  Burnside  Expedition — Capture  of  Forts  Donelson  and 
Henry — Surrender  of  Nashville,  Tenn. — Capture  of  Fort  Pulaski — 
The  Rebels  Driven  from  Missouri — Capture  of  Island  No.  10 — Of 
Forts  Pillow  and  Randolph,  on  the  Mississippi — Surrender  of 
Memphis — The  Battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing — Proclamation  for  a 


CONTENTS.  17 

day  of  National  Thanksgiving — Capture  of  New  Orleans — Invasion 
of  Kentucky — Battle  of  Corinth — Battle  of  Murfreesboro,  and  Ten 
nessee  freed  from  Rebel  rule — OPERATIONS  IN  EASTERN  VIRGINIA — 
The  President  issues  an  Order  for  a  general  advance  of  the 
national  forces — General  McClellan's  hesitancy  and  delay — Re 
iterated  orders  to  move — Letter  from  the  President — The  advance 
on  Yorktown — Battle  of  Williamsburg — More  delay,  more  Letters 
arid  Orders — Delay,  delay,  delay — Orders,  and  excuses  ad  infinitum 
et  ad  nauseam — The  Seven  Days'  Battles — The  close  of  the 
Peninsula  Campaign — Pope  placed  in  command  of  Army  of  Vir 
ginia — He  is  defeated — McClellan  reinstated,  and  commences 
another  advance  on  Richmond — The  old  story  of  delay — The 
Battle  of  Antietam — McClellan  relieved  from  command — The 
President's  defence  of  McClellan — The  President's  opinion  of 
McClellan — The  Routine  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  daily  life  at  this  period..  345 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    POLITICAL    AND    MILITARY    EVENTS    OF    THE    YEAR    1863. 

Second  Session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress — The  Annual  Mes 
sage — Work  done  by  Congress — The  President's  Message  on  the 
Financial  Bill — His  policy  indorsed  by  the  popular  elections  in  some 
of  the  New  England  States — A  Letter  from  the  Workingmen  of 
Manchester  (England),  and  the  President's  reply— His  letter  to  the 
State  Convention  at  Springfield,  111. — Proclamation  of  Pardon  and 
Amnesty — Annual  Message  of  December,  1863 — The  Military 
Events  of  1863 — The  situation  at  the  opening  of  the  year — Suc 
cesses  in  the  West — In  the  East,  General  Burnside  is  relieved  by 
General  Hooker,  who  fights  Lee  at  Chancellors vi lie — The  Battle  of 
Gettysburg,  Pa. — The  President's  Despatch — His  Speech  at  the 
(Jonsecration  of  the  National  Cemetery  at  Gettysburg — Great  Re 
joicings — Mr.  Lincoln's  Speech  at  Washington — His  Letter  to 
General  Grant — His  Proclamation  of  Thanksgiving,  Prayer  and 
Praise — Military  successes  in  Tennessee — Proclamations — Sketch 
of  Events  arising  from  Arbitrary  Arrests  and  the  Suppression  of 
the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus— Us  Suspension  in  May,  1861— The 
Attorney-General  furnishes  an  opinion  on  it — Arrest  of  the  Mary 
land  Legislature — Executive  Orders  in  relation  to  State  prisoners — 
Proclamation  of  September,  1862 — Factious  opposition  of  Hon. 
C.  L.  Vallandigham — He  is  arrested,  tried,  and  sent  into  Rebeldom, 
by  order  of  the  President — Great  Excitement  following— Mr.  Lin- 


18  CONTENTS. 

coin's  Letter  to  Hon.  Erastus  Corning  and  others — Mr.  Lincoln's 
reply  to  the  Committee  of  the  Democratic  State  Convention— Pro 
clamation  of  September,  1863 — The  Draft  is  commenced — Riots  in 
New  York  city — The  Missouri  Imbroglio — Commences  in  1861 — 
The  President  at  last  "  takes  hold  of  it,"  in  1863— Letter  to  General 
Schofield — His  reply  to  a  German  Fremont  Committee — His  reply 
to  a  Committee  from  the  Mass  Convention  of  September,  1863 — 
Instructions  to  General  Schofield— Foreign  Affairs— French  propo 
sition  for  a  mediation  in  American  Affairs — It  is  declined  by  the 
United  States— The  President's  reply— The  Correspondence  be 
tween  Hon.  Fernando  Wood  and  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  subject  of  a 
Conference  with  Rebel  authorities 339 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

THE    YEAR    1863,    AND    MR.    LINCOLN'S    RENOMINATION    FOR    THE    PRESIDENCY. 

Two  Drafts  ordered— The  appointment  of  General  U.  S.  Grant  as 
Lieutenant-General— His  Programme  of  Military  Operations- 
Mr.  Lincoln's  remarks  at  the  Patent  Office  Fair,  in  Washington — 
His  address  to  the  Workingmen's  Democratic  Republican  Associa 
tion  of  New  York — His  letter  to  the  Christian  Commission His 

speech  at  the  U.  S.  Sanitary  Commission  Fair,  at  Baltimore — 
Political  events  ;  Mr.  Lincoln  is  renominated  for  the  Presidency- 
Platform  of  the  Republican  Party — His  reception  of  the  news  of 
his  Nomination— General  McClellan  nominated  by  the  Demo 
cratic  Party,  and  General  Fremont  by  the  Radicals— President 
Lincoln's  Address  at  the  Philadelphia  Sanitary  Fair — Military 
events  ;  a  gloomy  battle-summer ;  final  successes ;  a  change  of 
popular  feeling,  and  a  day  of  Thanksgiving  appointed — The  attempt 
of  the  Rebels  to  open  Negotiations  for  Peace— It  is  "  squashed"  by 
the  President's  note,  "To  whom  it  may  Concern" — The  Presiden 
tial  election  of  1864— Mr.  Lincoln  is  elected— His  speech  upon 
being  notified  thereof. .  523 


CHAPTER  XY. 

FROM  MR.  LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  TO  THE  CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WAR. 
The  Annual  Message  of  1864-5— The  Fortress  Monroe  Peace  Nego 
tiations — Mr.  Lincoln's  and  Mr.  Se ward's  accounts  of  the  Conference 
—The  account  given  by  one  of  the  Rebel  Commissioners,  Hon. 


CONTENTS.  19 

Alexander  S.  Stephens,  Yice  President  of  the  Confederacy— Mr. 
Lincoln's  Inauguration,  March  4th,  1865— His  second  Inaugural 
Address— Military  Events— Sherman's  March  to  Savannah — 
Thomas's  defeat  of  Hood — The  Expeditions  against  Wilmington- 
Operations  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  against  Eichmond  and 
Petersburg— Capture  of  these  Cities— Lee's  flight,  pursuit,  and 
defeat — He  surrenders  to  General  Grant — Sherman's  March 
through  the  Carolinas— He  receives  Johnston's  surrender—  Col 
lapse  of -the  Rebellion — The  President  visits  the  Army — Is  present 
at  the  fall  of  Kichmond— Enters  that  City— Eeturns*  to  Wash 
ington—His  last  Speech  to  the  People,  on  occasion  of  the  public 
rejoicings  at  Washington 560 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

THE    ASSASSINATION    AND   ITS    EFFECTS   UPON   THE    COUNTRY. 

Threats  of  Assassination — Details  of  the  arrangements  made  by  the 
Conspirators — Booth's  strange  conduct  and  excited  manner  on  the 
day  of  the  Assassination — President  Lincoln's  last  hours  among 
his  family  and  friends — Goes  to  the  theatre — The  Deed — State 
ments  of  Major  Eathbone,  Miss  Harris  and  others — The  Death-bed 
scene — The  attack  on  Secretary  Seward — The  news  in  Washing 
ton — Its  effects  on  the  Nation — The  Editorial  of  the  New  York 
World — Public  emotion  in  New  York  and  elsewhere — Eev.  Dr. 
Bellows'  discourse — Eemarks  of  the  Eoman  Catholic  Archbishop — 
Eev.  H.  W.  Beecher's  discourse — The  effect  of  the  news  upon 
Europe — The  reception  in  London — The  scene  of  its  announcement 
in  the  Liverpool  Exchange — Official  condolences — Letter  from  the 
French  Government — Tribute  of  the  Italian  Chamber  of  Deputies 
Belgium  joins  in  the  general  grief — A  commemorative  service  in 
Berlin  . .  .603 


CHAPTEE  XYII. 

THE   FUNERAL    OBSEQUIES. 

The  Body  of  Mr.  Lincoln  lies  in  State  in  the  White  House — It  rests 
in  the  National  Capitol — Mourning  throughout  the  land — The 
Funeral  Cortege  commences  its  route  to  Springfield,  111. — Scenes 
by  the  way — At  Baltimore — At  Philadelphia — At  Newark  and 
Jersey  City — It  reaches  New  York — The  Farewell  Procession — 
To  Albany — From  there  to  Buffalo — At  Cleveland — At  Columbus 


20  CONTENTS. 

— At  Chicago — It  reaches  Springfield,  111. — The  final  rites  and 
sepulture — The  Assassin  and  his  end — The  fate  of  the  other  con 
spirators — Punch's  Tribute  to  Lincoln's  Memory 664 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

REMINISCENCES    AND    ANECDOTES    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Christian  Experiences,  and  Christian  Sentiments — 
His  firmness — The  Pardoning  Power — Mr.  Lincoln's  love  of 
Homer — His  'Memory — His  aptness  of  Expression — The  Eman 
cipation  Proclamation — His  "  Little  Story,"  at  the  Peace  Con 
ference — His  Justification  of  the  Amnesty  Proclamation — He 
loses  his  temper  for  once — His  relations  with  the  People — His 
tenderness  of  heart — His  faithful  admonition — Mr.  Lincoln  "  Pokes" 
on  Kentucky  neutrality — Reminiscences  of  President  Lincoln  by 
an  old  associate  and  friend — His  simplicity  and  artlessnesss  of 
character — His  native  dignity — His  desire  for  knowledge — His 
modesty — His  personal  fearlessness  of  danger — His  kindness  of 
heart — His  honesty — Incidents  of  his  visit  to  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac — Absence  of  mind — He  watches  events — He  remembers 
his  friends — His  little  stories — His  power  of  memory — His  literary 
tastes  and  habits .  680 


CLOSING  CHAPTER. 

ESTIMATE    OF    MR.   LINCOLN'S    LIFE,    CHARACTER,  AND   WORKS 729 


THE  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

THE  prominent  feature  of  ABEAHAM  LINCOLN'S  life  is 
the  fact,  that,  from  first  to  last,  he  was  a  truly  repre 
sentative  Man  of  the  People.  In  whatever  position  of 
private  life  or  of  public  trust  he  was  placed,  whether  in 
the  frontier  cabin,  the  modest  law  office  at  Springfield, 
the  Halls  of  Legislation,  or  the  Presidential  chair  at 
Washington,  he  always  maintained  tfre  same  truthful 
and  noble  character,  winning  the  confidence  of  the 
people,  and  eliciting  from  all  who  came  in  contact  with 
him  a  degree  of  personal  affection  and  enthusiasm  which 
has  been  given  to  no  other  American  statesman  of  our 
day,  unless  it  be  to  Henry  Clay,  whom  he  so  highly 
respected,  and,  in  no  slight  degree,  resembled.  The 
world,  indeed,  has  seen  many  men,  who,  by  the  grace 
of  their  manners,  the  force  of  their  intellect,  or  the 
splendor  of  their  achievements,  have  obtained  a  strong 
hold  upon  the  popular  heart;  yet  the  homage  univer 
sally  accorded  to  them  was  the  result  rather  of  a  certain 
fascination  than  of  sincere  affection.  France  had  her 
NAPOLEON,  who  rose  from  the  people,  and  adroitly  used 
that  fact  to  subserve  his  personal  ambition ;  yet  he  was 

(21) 


22  THE  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

not  o/them,  although  he  enjoyed  their  idolatry.  Their 
national  pride  was  gratified  by  the  dazzling  success  of 
one,  who,  soaring  from  their  own  level,  had  proven  him 
self  equal  in  abilities  to  the  proudest  monarchs,  the 
ablest  generals,  and  the  most  finished  statesmen  of  his 
time.  But  the  calmer  judgment  of  history,  sifting  the 
real  from  the  unreal,  will  record  that  the  Emperor  loved 
his  people,  if  love  it  can  be  called,  from  motives  of  self- 
interest. 

Even  our  own  illustrious  WASHINGTON,  the  very  Polar 
Star  of  American  patriotism,  honored  with  an  ever  in 
creasing  fame  throughout  both  continents,  represented, 
in  his  day,  the  higher  intellectual  and  social  phase  of 
American  society,  rather  than  those  humbler  circles  of 
thought  and  action  in  which  the  masses  move  and  have 
their  being.  The  influence  of  gentle  blood,  the  advan 
tages  of  education,  wealth  and  position,  which  moulded 
his  earlier  life,  conspired  to  make  him  the  representative 
of  the  aristocratic  class.  And  though  the  purity  of  his 
personal  and  public  life,  his  unswerving  patriotism,  and 
the  power  of  his  well-balanced  intellect,  gained  for  him 
the  sincerest  affection  of  his  countrymen,  that  affection 
ever  was,  and  ever  will  be,  mingled  with  a  species  of 
awe,  which  seemed  to  set  him  apart  from  ordinary 
mortals. 

But  LINCOLN,  while  living,  and  yet  more  truly  since 
his  death,  holds  a  not  inferior  place  in  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen.  It  has  been  happily  said  of  him,  that 
"  what  Robert  Burns  has  proverbially  been  to  the  people 
of  his  native  land,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  all  lands, 
as  a  bard,  Abraham  Lincoln  seems  to  have  become  to 
us  as  a  statesman  and  a  patriot,  by  his  intimate  rela- 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER.  23 

tions  alike  with  the  humbler  and  the  higher  walks  of 
life."  By  the  unstudied  and  truthful  exercise  of  the 
native  talents  with  which  God  endowed  him,  and  under 
circumstances  comparatively  unfavorable,  he  was  raised, 
apparently  by  the  continued  and  universal  suffrage  of 
his  fellow-citizens,  from  a  place  of  humble  obscurity  to  a 
position  and  a  fame  equalled  only  by  that  of  Washing 
ton.  And  the  secret  of  his  success  was  simply  this,  that 
he  never,  for  one  moment  in  all  his  varied  experiences, 
forgot  that  he  was  of  the  people ;  never,  in  a  single  in 
stance,  neglected  their  interests.  The  people,  also,  fully 
comprehended  him.  They  remembered  that  his  ex 
periences,  whether  of  gladness  or  of  sorrow,  had  been 
the  same  as  theirs ;  that  the  great  principles  of  justice 
and  humanity  underlying  their  own  happiness,  rights 
and  feelings,  were  deeply  enshrined  within  his 'heart. 
They  knew,  too,  that  unstained  by  temptation  and  un- 
swerved  by  success,  he  would  always  be,  as  he  always 
had  been,  the  champion  and  defender  of  their  interests. 
His  identity  with  the  people  was  such,  and  such  only, 
as  common  toils,  experiences  and  emotions  could  have 
produced.  And  in  that  identity  of  interest,  feeling  and 
purpose,  was  his  power — a  power  which,  from  the  be 
ginning  of  his  career  to  the  latest  hour  of  his  life,  was 
never  weakened  by  the  blasts  of  partisan  detraction,  or 
by  any  demerit  of  his  own. 

In  person,  also,  as  in  principle,  he  was  a  truly  repre 
sentative  American.  His  gaunt  and  bony  form,  firmly 
knit  by  the  labor  of  a  frontier  life,  was,  to  the  people,  a 
constant  reminder  that  his  earlier  years  had  been  spent 
amid  scenes  and  trials  with  which  they  were  themselves 
familiar.  His  features  were  plain  and  homely,  but  they 


24  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

were  illumined  by  thoughtful  eyes,  tenderly  described 
by  one  who  knew  him  well,  as  "  the  kindest  eyes  that 
were  ever  placed  in  mortal  head ;"  and  the  habitual  sad 
ness  of  his  countenance  revealed  the  man  of  strong  emo 
tions,  of  earnest  purpose,  of  infinite  depth  of  feeling. 
His  language  was  always  simple,  clear  and  unequivocal ; 
his  style  of  argument  familiar,  logical,  and  generally 
pointed  with  a  quaint  illustration,  an  apt  story,  or  an 
easy  play  of  humor.  His  manner  was  such  as  might 
have  been  expected  of  the  man,  cordial,  off-haiid,  yet 
having  an  innate  refinement  which  placed  others  at 
their  ease,  and  so  harmonized  and  softened  his  angular 
ities,  as  to  invest  with  a  certain  dignity  the  harsher  out 
lines  of  his  tall  and  ungainly  figure.  He  had,  also,  a 
straightforward  way  of  handling  subjects  the  most  com 
plicated  and  the  most  important ;  not  with  a  self-con 
ceited  flippancy,  but  with  a  sort  of  every-day-affair  ease 
and  simplicity  of  treatment  which  seemed  suddenly  to 
divest  them  of  all  extraneous  matters,  and  to  leave  them 
so  clearly  defined  in  all  their  relations,  as  to  excite  our 
surprise  and  admiration.  Indeed,  the  rare  art  of  "  put 
ting  things,"  was  possessed  by  this  honest  man  in  an 
eminent  degree.  The  numerous  perplexing  questions 
which  were  constantly  being  developed  by  the  progress 
of  the  war,  were  treated  by  this  Illinois  lawyer  with  a 
freedom  and  fearlessness  which  could  only  have  pro 
ceeded  from  a  conviction  that  principles  were  always  the 
same,  whatever  might  be  the  magnitude  of  the  case  in 
question. 

In  short,  amid  the  herculean  responsibilities  of  a  four 
years'  war,  such,  for  extent  and  principles  involved,  as 
the  world  had  never  before  seen ;  amid  questions,  civil. 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER.  25 

military,  and  political ;  amid  defeats  and  party  clamor ; 
amid  a  multitude  of  counsellors  and  varying  counsels ; 
amid  the  plottings  of  political  generals  and  the  blunders 
of  incompetent  commanders,  "  Honest  Abe"  was  always 
"master  of  the  position."  Purity  of  intention,  direct 
ness  of  purpose,  patience  and  firmness,  in  every  situa 
tion  and  in  every  emergency,  ever  marked  his  course  of 
action.  No  public  man,  under  the  pressure  of  great  re 
sponsibilities,  adhered  more  strictly  to  Col.  Crockett's 
well-known  rule  of  "  Be  sure  you're  right,  and  then  go 
ahead ;"  and  those  familiar  phrases  which  were  so  often 
on  his  lips,  "  We  must  keep  pegging  away,"  and,  "  I 
have  put  my  foot  down,"  expressed  the  patient  deter 
mination  of  a  loyal  but  sorely  tried  heart.  There  was 
no  Jacksonian  swagger  of  "  By  the  Eternal !"  but  there 
was  an  ever  present  sense  of  his  accountability  to  God 
for  his  acts,  and  a  practical  reliance  upon  His  arm  of 
strength  in  all  that  he  did,  which  peculiarly  character 
ized  President  Lincoln.  "  Pray  for  me  that  I  may  re 
ceive  the  Divine  assistance,  without  which  I  cannot 
succeed,  but  with  which,  success  is  certain,"  were  his 
words  of  farewell  to  the  assembled  friends  and  neigh 
bors  who  bade  him  God  speed  when  he  left  his  Spring 
field  home  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  Presidential 
chair.  And  again,  four  years  later,  in  his  second  in 
augural  speech,  which  now  seems  to  us  as  one  of  his  last 
utterances,  he  thus  speaks  to  a  great  people,  whose  sor 
rows  he  had  borne,  and  whose  success  was  at  hand  : 
"With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let 
us  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nations 
wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle, 


26 


THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


and  for  Ids  widow  and  his  orphans,  to  do  all  which  may 
achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among  our 
selves  and  with  all  nations." 

Such,  then,  was  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  the  natural  out 
growth  of  free  institutions.  Indeed,  such  a  character  as 
his  could  not  have  been  developed  amid  the  deeply 
worn  grooves  and  the  limited  influences  of  European 
society.  It  was  as  peculiarly  American  in  all  its  fea 
tures,  as  are  our  great  mountains,  prairies  and  water 
courses;  natural  in  growth,  untrammelled  in  action, 
easy  of  adaptation  to  every  varying  circumstance  of  life, 
fearless  in  its  courage,  persistent  in  its  purpose.  If 
there  is  any  truth  in  the  theory  that  the  mental  charac 
teristics  of  men  are  fashioned  by  the  scenery  amidst 
which  they  are  reared,  then  must  his  life  and  character 
be  taken  as  typical  of  our  American  genius  and  institu 
tions. 

It  was  this  man,  so  true,  so  self-poised,  so  honest — to 
whom,  amid  all  his  weighty  responsibilities,  no  fault  is 
imputed,  except  that  of  too  much  kindness — -whose  life 
we  now  purpose  to  write. 


HIS   BOYHOOD   IN   KENTUCKY.  -7 


CHAPTER  I. 

ABRAHAM   LINCOLN'S   BOYHOOD   IN   KENTUCKY. 

His  Ancestry. — Their  Residence  in  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. — His 
Grandfather  moves  over  into  Kentucky. — Is-  killed  by  an  Indian. — His 
Widow  settles  in  Washington  County. — His  son,  Thomas  Lincoln, 
marries  and  locates  near  Hodgenville. — Birth  of  Abraham  Lincoln. — 
La  Rue  County. — His  Early  Life  and  Training  in  Kentucky. — Removal 
of  the  Family  to  Indiana. 

THE  ancestors  of  Abraham  Lincoln  were  English,  and 
of  Quaker  stock, — although  the  characteristic  traits  of 
that  sect  seem  gradually  to  have  disappeared  under  the 
stern  discipline  of  the  frontier  life  which  fell  to  the  lot  of 
the  earlier  generations  in  this  new  country.  We  first  find 
definite  traces  of  them  in  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania, 
although  it,  probably,  was  not  the  place  of  their  original 
settlement  in  America;  and  they  may  have  been  a 
branch  of  the  family  that  settled,  at  an  earlier  date,  in 
the  Old  Plymouth  Colony.  Indeed,  tradition  affirms 
that  the  Pennsylvania  branch  was  transplanted  from 
Hingham,  Mass.,  and  was  derived  from  a  common  stock 
with  Col.  Benjamin  Lincoln,  of  Kevolutionary  fame. 
There  is,  at  least,  a  noticeable  coincidence  in  the  general 
prevalence  among  each  American  branch  of  Scriptural 
names — the  Benjamin,  Levi,  and  Ezra  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  family,  having  their  counterpart  in  the  Abra 
ham,  Thomas  and  Josiah  of  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky 
race — a  peculiarity  to  have  been  equally  expected  among 
gober  Quakers  and  zealous  Puritans. 


28  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

"Old  Berks,"  first  settled  in  1731,  was  not  long  the 
home  of  the  Lincoln  family,  who  seem  to  have  emi 
grated  before  its  organization  as  a  county,  in  1752,  to 
what  is  now  known  as  Rockingham  county,  Virginia. 

Buckingham,  now  esteemed  one  of  the  most  produc 
tive  counties  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  was  at  that  re 
mote  period  in  the  very  heart  of  the  wilderness;  a 
section,  which,  intersected  by  the  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Shenandoah,  invited,  by  its  natural  resources,  the 
advances  of  that  civilization  that  even  then  looked 
hopefully  forward  toward  the  setting  sun.  And  a 
branch  of  the  family,  it  is  said,  yet  remains  there,  en 
joying  the  benefits  of  the  land  which  their  ancestors 
selected  and  reclaimed  with  sturdy  toil  from  its  original 
wildness. 

The  Lincolns,  however,  were  evidently  of  the  stern 
old  pioneer  stock,  which  God  seems  to  send  into  the 
world  to  break  a  way  for  the  advance  of  a  superior 
civilization;  men  who  naturally  court  the  adventure, 
the  danger  and  the  hardship  of  a  frontier  life,  and  who, 
having  wrested  a  home  from  the  wild  elements  of  nature, 
straightway  lose  the  desire  of  possession,  and  willingly 
relinquish  all  which  they  have  gained  for  the  sake  of 
new  excitements. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  the  grandfather  of  our  subject,  was 
of  this  class — a  frontiersman,  in  the  truest  sense,  whose 
rough  but  healthful  life  had  been  spent  in  felling  the 
woods,  in  clearing  the  land  which  formed  his  homestead 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley — that  valley  since  rendered  so 
memorable  in  the  war  which  his  grandson  has  conducted 
in  behalf  of  the  Union  and  Universal  Liberty — in  hunt- 
ing  the  abundant  game,  and  in  the  hazards  of  an  un- 


HIS   BOYHOOD   IN   KENTUCKY.  29 

certain  war  with  lurking  savages.  It  is  not  surprising, 
then,  that,  to  a  man  of  such  training  and  disposition, 
the  glowing  descriptions  which,  from  about  1769  to 
1780,  began  to  spread  throughout  the  older  settlements 
concerning  the  incredible  richness  and  beauty  of  the 
then  recently-explored  Kentucky  Valley,  should  have 
possessed  an  irresistible  charm !  Perhaps,  also,  the  set 
tlements  around  him  had  already  begun  to  be  too  far 
advanced  for  the  highest  enjoyment  of  his  characteristic 
mode  of  life;  for  such  men,  when  they  begin  to  hear  the 
axes  of  neighbors  echoing  around  them,  and  from  their 
cabin-doors  can  see  the  blue  smoke  curling  upwards  from 
other  chimnies  than  their  own,  are  apt  to  feel  the  need 
of  "more  elbow-room,"  and  to  take  up  their  line  of 
march  for  "  solitudes  more  profound." 

We  must,  also,  in  this  case,  take  into  consideration 
the  fact  that  the  first  explorer  of  this  Kentucky  para 
dise,  Daniel  Boone,  whose  very  name  suggests  a  whole 
world  of  romantic  adventure,  was  a  neighbor  of  the  Lin- 
coins — having  removed,  when  quite  a  lad,  among  the 
earlier  emigrants  from  Eastern  Pennsylvania  to  Berks 
county.  Here  he  must  have  been  a  contemporary  resi 
dent,  and  perhaps  an  acquaintance,  in  those  familiar 
times  when  every  one  knew  every  one  else  in  the  same 
county.  At  all  events,  the  Berks  county  people  watched 
with  eager  interest  and  sympathy  the  adventurous  ca 
reer  of  Boone ;  and  his  achievements  undoubtedly  sug 
gested  new  attractions  to  the  more  active  and  daring 
spirits  among  his  boyhood  companions,  whose  ideal  of 
manhood  he  so  nearly  approached. 

At  this  date,  and  for  ten  or  twelve  years  later,  the 
present  State  of  Kentucky  formed  a  part  of  the  old 


30  THE   LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

commonwealth  of  Virginia,  and  was  a  common  territory 
and  place  of  meeting  for  the  Indian  tribes  both  of  the 
north  and  south.  This  "  dark  and  bloody  ground,"  as 
it  has  been  most  appropriately  called,  was  already  fa 
mous  as  the  scene  of  many  exciting  adventures  and 
deadly  conflicts  between  the  white  man  and  the  red 
skin  ;  and  Boone,  Harrod,  Floyd,  and  other  brave  spirits 
were  still  in  the  midst  of  the  great  struggles  which  have 
imperishably  associated  their  names  with  the  history  of 
the  country.  Thitherward,  from  the  borders  of  the 
surrounding  Colonies,  from  every  direction,  and  from 
hundreds  of  miles  distance,  the  tide  of  emigration  had 
now  begun.  The  emigrants  were  from  that  hardy  class 
of  frontiersmen  most  inured  to  the  toils  which  awaited 
them  in  the  new  Kentucky  forests ;  and  they  pressed 
forward  fearless  of  the  dangers  which  surrounded  their 
pathway.  Among  them  was  Abraham  Lincoln,  who, 
about  1780,  established  a  home  for  his  small  family 
somewhere  on  Floyd's  creek,  and  probably  near  its 
mouth,  in  what  is  now  Bullitt  county.  Here,  amid  in 
credible  hardships  and  dangers,  the  relation  of  which 
seem  to  us,  in  these  days,  like  the  mutterings  of  a  far-off 
troubled  dream,  he  erected  his  rude  dwelling  and  made 
a  beginning  in  his  new  pioneer  labors.  But,  the  hopes 
which  led  to  this  change  of  his  home  were  destined 
never  to  be  fulfilled.  His  cabin,  isolated  from  its  neigh 
bors  by  a  distance  of  several  miles,  was  a  dangerous 
dwelling  in  a  region  infested  by  roving  savages,  whose 
blind  instinct  of  revenge  was  perpetually  searching  for 
a  pale-face  victim  on  whom  to  sate  its  fury.  And,  while  at 
work,  one  day,  at  a  distance  from  his  home,  the  skulk 
ing  Indian  crept  upon  him  unawares,  and  his  scalped 


HIS   BOYHOOD   IN   KENTUCKY.  31 

and  lifeless  body  was  found  by  his  family  on  the  follow 
ing  morning.  This  took  place  in  the  year  1784,  or  very 
near  that  time,  when  he  was  probably  not  more  than 
thirty-five  years  of  age.  His  suddenly-bereaved  widow, 
with  three  sons  and  two  daughters  left  to  her  protection 
and  care,  and  with  but  slender  means  for  their  support, 
soon  removed  to  Washington  county,  in  the  same  State, 
where  she  reared  her  children,  all  of  whom  reached 
mature  age.  The  daughters,  in  due  time,  were  mar 
ried,  and  the  three  sons,  Thomas,  Mordecai,  and  Josiah, 
all  remained  in  Kentucky  until  after  they  attained  their 
majority. 

Thomas  Lincoln,  one  of  these  sons,  and  the  parent  of 
the  illustrious  President,  was  born  in  1778,  and  was  but 
six  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  father's  untimely  death. 
Of  his  early  life,  we  have  no  knowledge  except  what  we 
may  learn  by  inference  from  the  general  lot  of  his  class, 
and  of  the  habits  and  modes  of  living  then  prevalent 
among  the  hardy  pioneers  of  Kentucky.  These  back 
woodsmen  had  an  unceasing  round  of  toil,  with  no  im 
mediate  reward  but  a  bare  subsistence,  from  year  to 
year,  and  the  cheering  promise  of  "  better  days  in 
store."  And,  although  more  comfortable  days,  and  a 
much  improved  condition  of  things,  had  come  before 
Thomas  Lincoln  arrived  at  maturity,  yet  his  boyhood 
must  have  had  a  full  share  of  the  trials  and  penury  in 
cident  to  the  lot  of  the  first  generation  of  Kentuckians, 
with  few  other  enjoyments  than  the  occasional  "  shoot 
ing  match"  or  "  wedding  frolic."  He  belonged  to  the 
generation  which  was  cotemporary  with  the  independent 
existence  of  the  nation,  and  which  largely  partook  of 
the  exultant  spirit  of  self-confidence  then  prevalent 


32  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

throughout  the  land.  And,  as  he  grew  to  manhood, 
the  currents  of  emigration  into  the  State  had  enlarged 
and  accelerated,  until,  in  1800,  when  he  had  attained 
the  age  of  twenty-two,  its  population  numbered  two 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  and  the  wilderness  be 
gan  to  blossom  as  the  rose.  Rapid,  however  as  was 
this  growth,  there  still  was  ample  unoccupied  space 
within  the  limits  of  the  new  State  for  those  whose  free 
spirit  rejoiced  in  the  "  trackless  woods,"  and  craved  the 
excitement  and  the  loneliness  of  a  home  in  the  wil 
derness. 

In  1806,  Thomas  Lincoln,  being  then  twenty-eight 
years  of  age,  was  married  to  Nancy  Hanks,  a  native 
of  Virginia — of  his  own  station  in  life — and,  as  there  is 
reason  to  believe,  possessed  of  rare  qualities  of  mind 
and  heart;  but  dying  at  an  early  age,  and  having,  from 
the  time  of  her  marriage,  passed  her  days  upon  the 
obscure  frontiers,  few  recollections  of  her  are  now  acces 
sible. 

The  young  couple  were  plain  people,  members  of  the 
Baptist  church,  and  about  equally  educated.  The  wifo 
could  read,  but  not  write;  while  her  husband  could 
manage  his  own  name  as  a  penman,  but,  it  is  said,  in  a 
style  more  perplexing  than  readable.  Nevertheless,  he 
could  fully  appreciate  the  value  of  a  better  education 
than  he  himself  possessed,  and  was  not  devoid  of  that 
truly  democratic  reverence  which  can  bow  before  supe 
rior  mental  attainments  in  others.  He  was,  besides,  an 
industrious,  cheerful,  kind-hearted  man.  His  wife  was 
a  woman  of  excellent  judgment,  sound  sense,  and  pro 
verbial  piety;  an  excellent  helpmeet  for  a  backwoods 
man  of  Thomas  Lincoln's  stamp,  and  a  mother  whose 


HIS   BOYHOOD    IN    KENTUCKY.  33 

piety  and  affection  must  have  been  of  inestimable  value 
ir  the  shaping  and  directing  of  her  children's  destinies. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  born  of  these  parents  on  the 
12th  day  of  February,  1809.  The  place  where  they  at 
this  time  resided,  is  in  what  is  now  La  Rue  county, 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Hodgeirville,  the  county 
seat,  and  seven  miles  from  Elizabethtown,  laid  off 
several  years  previously,  and  the  county  seat  of  Hardin 
county.  One  sister,  two  years  his  senior,  who  grew  up 
to  womanhood,  married,  and  died  while  young ;  and  a 
brother,  two  years  younger  than  himself,  who  died 
in  early  childhood,  and  whose  now  unmarked  grave, 
Mr.  Lincoln  remembers  to  have  visited  along  with 
his  mother  before  leaving  Kentucky,  were  the  only 
children  of  Thomas  Lincoln,  either  by  this  or  by  a  sub 
sequent  marriage.  ABRAHAM  has  thus,  for  a  long  time, 
been  the  sole  immediate  representative  of  this  hardy 
and  energetic  race. 

La  Rue  county,  so  named  from  an  early  settler,  John 
La  Rue,  was  set  off  and  separately  organized  in  1843, 
the  portion  containing  Mr.  Lincoln's  birthplace  having 
been,  up  to  that  date,  included  in  Hardin  county.  It  is 
a  rich  grazing  country  in  its  more  rolling  or  hilly  parts, 
and  the  level  surface  produces  good  crops  of  corn  and 
tobacco.  Hodgenville,  near  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
born,  is  a  pleasantly  situated  town  on  Nolin  creek,  and 
a  place  of  considerable  business.  About  a  mile  above 
this  town,  on  the  creek,  is  a  mound,  or  knoll,  thirty 
feet  above  the  banks  of  the  stream,  containing  two  acres 
of  level  ground,  at  the  top  of  which  there  is  now  a 
house.  Some  of  the  early  pioneers  encamped  on  this 
knoll;  and  but  a  short  distance  from  it  a  fort  was 


34  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

erected  by  Philip  Phillips,  an  emigrant  from  Pennsyl 
vania,  about  1780  or  1781,  near  the  time  Mr.  Lincoln's 
ancestor  arrived  from  Yirginia.  John  La  Rue  came  from 
the  latter  State,  with  a  company  of  emigrants,  who 
settled  aboiit  the  same  time,  at  Phillips'  Fort.  Robert 
Hodgen,  La  Rue's  brother-in-law,  purchased  and  occupied 
the  land  on  which  Hodgenville  is  built.  Both  of  these 
pioneers  were  men  of  sterling  integrity,  high  moral 
worth,  and  consistent  and  zealous  members  of  the 
Baptist  church ;  and  one  of  their  associates,  Benjamin 
Lynn,  was  a  minister  of  the  same  persuasion.  Such 
were  the  influences  under  which,  more  than  twenty 
years  before  Thomas  Lincoln  settled  there,  this  little 
colony  had  been  founded,  and  which  went  far  to  give 
the  community  its  permanent  character. 

It  is  needless  to  rehearse  the  kind  of  life  in  which 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  here  trained.  The  picture  is 
similar  in  all  such  settlements.  In  his  case,  there 
was  indeed  the  advantage  of  a  generation  or  two  of 
progress,  since  his  grandfather  had  hazarded  and  lost 
his  life  in  the  then  slightly  broken  wilderness.  The 
State  now  numbered  about  four  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  had  all  the  benefits  of  an  efficient  local 
administration,  the  want  of  which  had  greatly  increased 
the  dangers  and  difficulties  of  the  first  settlers.  Henry 
Clay,  it  may  here  be  appropriately  mentioned,  had 
already,  though  little  more  than  thirty  years  of  age,  begun 
his  brilliant  political  career,  having  then  served  for 
a  year  or  two  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

Yet,  with  all  these  changes,  the  humble  laborers, 
settled  near  "Hodgen's  Mills,"  on  Nolin  creek,  had 
no  other  lot  but  incessant  toil,  and  a  constant  struggle 


HIS    BOYHOOD    IN   KENTUCKY.  35 

with  nature  in  the  still  imperfectly  reclaimed  wilds,  for 
a  plain  subsistence.  Here  the  boy  spent  the  first  years 
of  his  childhood.  Before  the  date  of  his  earliest  distinct 
recollections,  however,  he  removed  with  his  father  to  a 
place  six  miles  distant  from  Hodgenville,  which  was  ere 
long  surrendered,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  for  a  home 
in  the  far-off  wilderness,  and  for  frontier  life,  in  its 
fullest  and  most  significant  meaning. 

Abraham  Lincoln's  Kentucky  life,  then,  extended 
only  through  a  period  of  about  seven  years,  terminating 
with  the  autumn  of  1816.  And  if,  as  has  been  asserted 
by  some  philosophic  minds,  the  experiences  and  instruc 
tions  of  the  first  seven  years  of  every  person's  existence, 
do  more  to  mould  and  determine  his  subsequent  general 
character,  then  we  must  regard  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  Ken- 
tuckian  (of  the  generation  next  succeeding  that  of 
Clay),  by  his  early  impressions  and  discipline,  no  less 
than  by  birth. 

These  were  the  days,  it  must  be  remembered,  when 
common  schools  were  unknown.  Yet  education  was  not 
undervalued  or  neglected  among  these  rude  foresters ; 
nor  did  young  Lincoln,  limited  as  were  his  opportunities, 
grow  up  an  illiterate  boy.  Itinerant,  but  competent 
teachers  were  accustomed  to  offer  their  services,  and 
opened  private  schools  in  the  new  settlements,  being 
supported  by  tuition  fees,  or  a  subscription. 

During  his  boyhood  in  Kentucky,  Abraham  Lincoln 
attended  at  different  times  at  least  two  schools  of  this 
description,  of  which  he  had  clear  recollections.  One 
of  these  was  kept  by  Zachariah  Biney,  who  although 
himself  an  ardent  Roman  Catholic,  made  no  proselyting 
efforts  in  his  school,  and  when  any  little  religious  cere- 


36  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

monies,  perhaps  mere  catechising  and  the  like,  were  to 
be  gone  through  with,  all  the  Protestant  children,  of 
whom,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  young  "Abe"  was  one, 
were  allowed  to  retire.  Riney  was  probably  in  some 
way  connected  with  the  movements  of  the  "  Trappists," 
who  came  to  Kentucky  in  the  autumn  of  1805,  and 
founded  an  establishment  (afterward  abandoned)  on  Pot- 
tinger's  creek.  They  were  active  in  promoting  educa 
tion,  especially  among  the  poorer  classes,  and  had  a 
school  for  boys  under  their  immediate  supervision. 
This,  however,  had  been  abandoned  before  the  date  of 
Lincoln's  first  school-days,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that 
the  private  schools  under  Catholic  teachers  were  an  off 
shoot  of  the  original  system  adopted  by  the  Trappists, 
who  subsequently  removed  to  Illinois. 

Another  teacher,  on  whose  instruction  the  boy  after 
ward  attended,  while  living  in  Kentucky,  was  named 
Caleb  Hazel.  His  was  also  a  neighborhood  school,  sus 
tained  by  private  patronage. 

With  the  aid  of  these  two  schools,  and  such  assistance 
as  he  received  from  his  parents  at  home,  he  had  become 
able  to  read  well,  though  without  having  made  any 
great  literary  progress,  at  the  age  of  seven.  That  he 
was  neither  a  dull  or  inapt  scholar,  is  manifest  from  his 
subsequent  attainments.  With  the  allurements  of  the 
rifle  and  the  wild  game  which  abounded  in  the  country, 
however,  and  with  his  meagre  advantages  in  regard  to 
books,  it  is  probable  that  his  perceptive  faculties  and 
muscular  powers  were  more  fully  developed  than  his 
scholastic  talents. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  also,  that  while  he  lived  in 
Kentucky,  he  never  saw  even  the  exterior  of  what  was 


.     HIS   BOYHOOD   IN    KENTUCKY.  37 

properly  a  church  edifice ;  and  the  few  religious  services 
which  he  had  an  opportunity  to  attend,  were  held 
either  in  humble  private  dwellings,  or  in  some  log 
school-house. 

Another  change  of  home,  however,  awaited  our  young 
hero.  His  father,  perhaps  from  the  old  restless  spirit 
of  adventure,  but  more  probably  because  he  found  life 
in  a  slave  State  a  most  unsatisfactory  one  for  himself, 
and  presenting  only  the  prospect  of  a  hopeless  struggle 
in  the  future  for  his  children,  determined  upon  removal 
to  the  wilds  of  Indiana,  where  free  labor  would  have  no 
competition  with  slave  labor,  and  the  poor  white  man 
might  reasonably  hope  that,  in  time,  his  children  could 
take  an  honorable  position,  won  by  industry  and  careful 
economy. 

So,  having  sold  his  Kentucky  farm,  as  the  story  goes, 
for  ten  barrels  of  whiskey  (forty  gallons  each)  valued 
at  two  hundred  and  eighty  dollars,  besides  twenty 
dollars  in  money,*  and  having  made  a  trial  trip  to 
Indiana  to  select  a  location  to  his  liking,  which  he 
found  in  what  is  now  Spencer  county,  he  made  his 
preparations  to  remove  his  family  to  their  new  home. 

*  Although  this  story  has  been  discredited  by  some,  yet  as  such  trans 
actions  in  the  disposal  of  real  estate  were  not  uncommon  at  that  period, 
we  see  no  reason  to  doubt  it,  nor  to  consider  it  as  prejudicial  to  Thomas 
Lincoln's  character ;  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  those  days  were  Hot 
the  days  of  temperance  and  "  Total  Abstinence." 


THE   LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER    II. 

ABRAHAM   LINCOLN'S   THIRTEEN  YEARS   IN   INDIANA. 

Kemoval  of  the  Lincoln  Family  to  Spencer  county,  Indiana.— Abraham  as 
a  Earm  Boy. — As  a  Marksman. — The  Death  of  his  Mother. — The 
second  Marriage  of  his  Father.— Abraham's  Education.— His  own 

Account,  when  President,  of  his  Education. — His  Love  of  Books. 

The  Story  of  the  Damaged  Book. — His  Yoyage  to  New  Orleans  as  a 
Flatboatman. — Description  of  Early  Times  and  Scenes  in  Indiana. 

EARLY  in  the  autumn  of  1816,  the  Lincoln  family, 
bidding  adieu  to  their  old  Kentucky  home,  commenced 
a  long  and  wearisome  journey  toward  the  forests  of 
southern  Indiana.  The  plain  wagon,  with  its  simple 
covering,  contained  the  "  household  goods,"  and  shel 
tered  the  wife  and  daughter,  while  the  father  and  his 
son,  who  was  now  in  his  ninth  year,  walked  beside  the 
horse  which  steadily  drew  the  family  conveyance,  or 
took  care  that  the  indispensable  cow  kept  pace  to  the 
music  of  the  jolting  wheels.  Arriving  at  the  proper 
landing  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  the  little  caravan  was 
embarked  upon  a  flatboat,  and  floated  across  the  stream, 
now  swelled  to  fair  proportions  by  the  autumn  rains. 
Finally  reaching  the  Indiana  side,  the  adventurers 
landed  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Anderson's  creek,  now 
the  boundary  between  the  counties  of  Perry  and  Spen 
cer,  about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  below  Louisville, 
by  the  river,  and  sixty  above  Evansville.  In  a  direct 
line  across  the  country  from,  their  former  residence,  the 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN'S   THIRTEEN   YEARS    IN    INDIANA.       39 

distance  is  perhaps  hardly  one  hundred  miles,  yet  the 
journey  had  occupied  them  a  whole  week. 

The  place  where  Mr.  Lincoln  settled  at  the  end  of  his 
journey,  was  near  the  present  town  of  Gentry ville,  some 
distance  back  from  the  Ohio  river,  and  was,  under  the 
earliest  organization,  in  Perry  county.  Two  years  later, 
however,  Spencer  county  was  formed,  embracing  all  that 
part  of  Perry  west  of  Anderson's  creek,  and  including 
the  place  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  location. 

Here,  then,  his  emigrant  wagon  paused;  and  soon, 
with  the  help  of  his  youthful  son,  a  log  cabin  was  built, 
which  was  to  be  their  rough  but  comfortable  home  for 
many  coming  years. 

This  done,  and  a  shelter  provided  for  their  cattle,  the 
next  work  was  to  clear  an  opening  in  the  forest,  upon 
which  to  raise  a  crop  of  grain  for  their  sustenance  dur 
ing  the  next  season.  Hard  work  had  now  begun  in 
good  earnest  for  the  young  Kentuckian,  and  the  reali 
ties  of  genuine  pioneer  life  were  to  be  brought  home  to 
his  comprehension  in  a  very  practical  manner. 

Indiana,  at  this  date,  was  still  a  Territory,  having 
been  originally  united  under  the  same  government  with 
Illinois,  after  the  admission  of  Ohio  as  a  State,  "the 
firstrborn  of  the  great  Northwest,"  in  1802.  A  separate 
territorial  organization  was  made  for  each  in  1809.  In 
June,  1816,  pursuant  to  a  Congressional  "enabling  act," 
a  Convention  had  been  held  which  adopted  a  State  Con 
stitution,  preparatory  to  admission  into  the  Union,  and 
under  this  Constitution,  a  month  or  two  after  Thomas 
Lincoln's  arrival,  in  December,  1816,  Indiana  became, 
by  act  of  Congress,  a  sovereign  State.  Its  population, 
at  this  time,  was  about  sixty-five  thousand,  distributed 


40  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

chiefly  south  of  a  straight  line  drawn  from  Vincennes, 
on  the  Wabash,  to  Lawrenceburg,  on  the  Ohio. 

"  The  next  thirteen  years  Abraham  Lincoln  spent 
here,  in  southern  Indiana,  near  the  Ohio,  nearly  mid 
way  between  Louisville  and  Evansville.  He  was  now 
old  enough  to  begin  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  farm 
labors  of  his  father,  and  he  manfully  performed  his 
share  of  hard  work.  He  learned  to  use  the  axe  and  to 
hold  the  plow.  He  became  inured  to  all  the  duties  of 
iseed-time  and  harvest.  On  many  a  day,  during  every 
one  of  those  thirteen  years,  this  Kentucky  boy  might 
have  been  seen,  with  a  long  <  gad'  in  his  hand,  driving 
his  father's  team  in  the  field,  or  from  the  woods  with  a 
heavy  draught,  or  on  the  rough  path  to  the  mill,  the 
store,  or  the  river  landing ;  very  probably  at  times,  in 
the  language  of  the  Hoosier  bard,  descriptive  of  such 
pioneer  workers  in  general : 

sans  shoes  or  socks  on, 

With  snake-pole  and  a  yoke  of  oxen.' 

"A  vigorous  constitution,  and  a  cheerful,  unrepining 
disposition,  made  all  his  labors  comparatively  light. 
To  such  a  one,  this  sort  of  life  has  in  it  much  of 
pleasant  excitement  to  compensate  for  its  hardships. 
He  learned  to  derive  enjoyment  from  the  severest  lot. 
The  '  dignity  of  labor,'  which  is  with  demagogues  such 
hollow  cant,  became  to  him  a  true  and  appreciable 
reality."  Thus,  by  hardy  out-door  labor  and  exercise 
he  laid  the  foundation  of  that  iron  constitution  which 
proved  such  a  blessing  throughout  his  whole  life,  en 
abling  him  to  endure  fatigue  and  care  to  which  an 
ordinary  frame  would  have  succumbed. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN'S   THIRTEEN   YEARS   IN   INDIANA.      41 

About  this  time,  also,  he  took  a  start  as  a  hunter, 
which  was  never  much  improved  afterward.  One  day, 
toward  the  close  of  his  eighth  year,  while  his  father 
happened  to  be  absent,  a  flock  of  wild  turkeys  ap 
proached  the  cabin,  and  Abraham,  standing  inside,  took 
aim  with  a  rifle  through  a  crevice  of  the  log-house,  and 
succeeded  in  killing  one  of  the  fowls.  This  was  his 
first  shot  at  living  game,  and,  according  to  his  own 
account,  he  has  never  since  pulled  a  trigger  on  larger ; 
but  we  can  imagine,  and  participate  in,  the  pride  with 
which  he  exhibited  his  trophy  to  his  delighted  parents. 

In  the  autumn  of  1818,  Abraham  had  the  misfortune 
to  lose  his  excellent  mother.  She  was  a  truly  noble 
woman,  as  her  son's  life  attested.  From  her  came  that 
deep  and  abiding  reverence  for  holy  things — that  pro 
found  trust  in  Providence  and  faith  in  the  triumph  of 
truth — and  that  gentleness  and  amiability  of  temper 
which,  in  the  lofty  station  of  Chief  Magistrate,  he  dis 
played  so  strikingly  during  years  of  most  appalling 
responsibility.  From  her  he  derived  the  spirit  of 
and  the  desire  to  see  others  happy,  which  afterward 
formed  so  prominent  a  trait  in  his  character.  Though 
uneducated  in  books,  she  was  wise  in  the  wisdom  of 
experience  and  truth,  and  was  to  her  son  a  faithful 
mentor  as  well  as  a  good  mother.  He  never  ceased  to 
mourn  her  loss,  and  ever  cherished  her  memory  with 
the  tenderest  affection  and  respect.  A  year  after  her 
death,  his  father  married  Mrs.  Sally  Johnson,  at  Eliza- 
bethtown,  Kentucky,  a  widow,  with  three  children  by 
her  first  marriage.  She  proved  a  good  and  kind  mother 
to  Abraham,  and  has  lived  to  see  him  occupying  the 
chief  position  in  the  land,  and  in  the  hearts  of  his 


42  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

countrymen.  There  were  no  children  by  this  second 
marriage. 

Here,  during  his  residence  in  Evansville,  Mr.  Lincoln's 
education  may  properly  be  said  to  have  commenced.  It 
is  true  that  the  schools  of  his  neighborhood  were  of  the 
same  class,  and  little  better  than  those  in  Kentucky, 
yet,  aided  by  what  he  had  already  acquired,  he  managed 
to  increase  his  slender  stock  of  learning.  His  teachers, 

while  here,  were  Andrew  Crawford, Sweeney,  and 

Azel  "W.  Dorsey,  the  latter  of  whom  has  lived  to  see 
his  whilom  pupil  a  giant  leader  among  the  people. 

Abraham  had  achieved  the  art  of  reading  before  his 
own  mother's  death;  and,  subsequently,  by  the  assist 
ance  of  a  young  man  of  the  neighborhood,  had  learned 
to  write,  an  accomplishment  which  some  of  the  friendly 
neighbors  thought  unnecessary,  but  his  father  quietly 
persisted,  and  the  boy  was  set  down  as  a  prodigy  when 
he  wrote  to  an  old  friend  of  his  mother's,  a  travelling 
preacher,  and  begged  him  to  come  and  preach  a  sermon 
over  his  mother's  grave.  Three  months  after,  Parson 
Elkins  came,  and  friends  assembled,  a  year  after  her 
death,  to  pay  a  last  tribute  of  respect,  to  one  universally 
beloved  and  respected.  Her  son's  share  in  securing  the 
presence  of  the  clergyman  was  not  unmeiitioned,  and 
Abraham  soon  found  himself  called  upon  to  write 
letters  for  his  neighbors. 

So,  when  Mr.  Crawford  came  into  the  vicinity,  and  at 
the  solicitation  of  the  people  of  the  settlement,  opened 
a  school  in  his  own  cabin,  Abraham's  father  embraced 
the  opportunity  to  send  him,  in  order  that  he  might  add 
some  knowledge  of  arithmetic  to  his  reading  and  writing. 
With  buckskin  clothes,  a  raccoon  skin  cap,  and  an  old 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN'S   THIRTEEN   YEARS   IN   INDIANA.    43 

arithmetic  which  had  been  somewhere  found  for  him,  he 
commenced  his  studies  in  the  "higher  branches."  His 
progress  was  rapid,  and  his  perseverance  and  faithfulness 
won  the  interest  and  esteem  of  his  teacher. 

Probably  the  most  interesting  period  in  the  biography 
of  a  great  man — be  he  student,  statesman  or  soldier — is 
when  the  desire  of  honor  first  touches  his  heart-strings, 
and  when  the  first  little  "  sip"  at  the  fountain  of  know- 
lege,  has  developed  a  thirst  which  would  drink  deeply 
and  forever.  For  it  is  at  this  critical  moment — that  of 
the  charming,  yet  dangerous  first  draught — that  we 
seem  to  behold  the  germ,  the  incipient  dawn,  as  it  were, 
of  those  after-deeds  which  are  to  shed  lustre  upon  the 
man's  life,  and  upon  the  world  in  which  he  lives  and 
acts.  Our  curiosity  is  awakened  to  learn  what  were  his 
first  loves  in  the  way  of  books,  human  characters,  and 
the  visible  objects  of  the  natural  universe.  For  know 
ing  these,  it  is  a  pleasure  to  look  back  upon  and  compare 
them  with  our  own  experiences,  or  with  the  similar 
characteristics  of  those  who  have  been  numbered  among 
the  world's  great  men. 

In  spite,  however,  of  his  father's  care  to  give  him 
every  facility  for  the  acquirement  of  an  education  which 
was  within  his  reach,  as  well  as  of  his  own  assiduity 
and  thirst  for  knowledge,  little  Abraham's  opportunities 
must  have  been  extremely  limited,  for  he  was  accus 
tomed  to  say,  in  after  life,  that  he  thought  the  aggregate 
of  all  his  schooling  did  not  amount  to  one  year.  He 
was  never  in  a  college  or  academy  as  a  student,  and 
never  inside  a  college  or  academy  till  since  he  had  a  law- 
license  ;  and  what  he  had  in  the  way  of  education,  was 
picked  up  in  his  own  way.  After  he  was  twenty-three, 


44  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  had  separated  from  his  father,  he  studied  English 
grammar,  imperfectly,  of  course,  but  so  as  to  speak  and 
write  as  well  as  he  did.  He  studied,  and  nearly 
mastered,  the  six  books  of  Euclid  after  he  arrived  at 
manhood. 

In  this  connection  we  may  be  permitted  to  quote  the 
following  interesting  narrative  concerning  Mr.  Lincoln's 
education  and  early  experiences,  as  elicited  from  him  by 
the  Kev.  J.  P.  Gulliver,  during  a  lengthy  personal  inter 
view.  It  is  especially  valuable  as  throwing  more  light 
upon  the  President's  peculiar  mental  constitution  than 
we  have  found  elsewhere  : — 

"  'I  want  very  much  to  know,  Mr.  Lincoln,  how  you  got  this 
unusual  power  of  "putting  things."  It  must  have  been  a 
matter  of  education.  No  man  has  it  by  nature  alone.  What 
has  your  education  been?' 

" '  Well,  as  to  education,  the  newspapers  are  correct — I  never 
went  to  school  more  than  twelve  months  in  my  life.  But,  as 
you  say,  this  must  be  a  product  of  culture  in  some  form.  I 
have  been  putting  the  question  you  ask  me,  to  myself,  while 
you  have  been  talking.  I  can  say  this,  that  among  my  earliest 
recollections,  I  remember  how,  when  a  mere  child,  I  used  to 
get  irritated  when  anybody  talked  to  me  in  a  way  I  could  not 
understand.  I  don't  think  I  ever  got  angry  at  any  thing  else  in 
my  life.  But  that  always  disturbed  my  temper,  and  has  ever 
since.  I  can  remember  going  to  my  little  bed-room,  after 
hearing  the  neighbors  talk,  of  an  evening,  with  my  father,  and 
spending  no  small  part  of  the  night  walking  up  and  down,  and 
trying  to  make  out  what  was  the  exact  meaning  of  some  of 
their,  to  me,  dark  sayings.  I  could  not  sleep,  though  I  often 
tried  to,  when  I  got  on  such  a  hunt  after  an  idea,  until  I  had 
caught  it ;  and  when  I  thought  I  had  got  it,  I  was  not  satisfied 
until  I  had  repeated  it  over  and  over,  until  I  had  put  it  in 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN'S   THIRTEEN   YEARS   IN   INDIANA.    .45 

language  plain  enough,  as  I  thought,  for  any  boy  I  knew 
to  comprehend.  This  was  a  kind  of  passion  with  me,  and  it 
has  since  stuck  by  me,  for  I  am  never  easy  now,  when  I  am 
handling  a  thought,  till  I  have  bounded  it  north  and  bounded 
it  south,  and  bounded  it  east  and  bounded  it  west.  Perhaps 
that  accounts  for  the  characteristic  you  observe  in  my  speeches, 
though  I  never  put  the  things  together  before.' 

"  '  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  thank  you  for  this.  It  is  the  most  splendid 
educational  fact  I  ever  happened  upon.  This  is  genius,  with  all 
its  impulsive,  inspiring,  dominating  power  over  the  mind  of  its 
possessor,  developed  by  education  into  talent,  with  its  unifor 
mity,  its  permanence,  and  its  disciplined  strength,  always  ready, 
always  available,  never  capricious — the  highest  possession  of 
the  human  intellect.  But  let  me  ask,  did  you  not  have  a  law 
education  ?  How  did  you  prepare  for  your  profession  ?' 

" '  Oh,  yes.  I  "  read  law,"  as  the  phrase  is ;  that  is,  I  became 
a  lawyer's  clerk  in  Springfield,  and  copied  tedious  documents, 
and  picked  up  what  I  could  of  law  in  the  intervals  of  other 
work.  But  your  question  reminds  me  of  a  bit  of  education  I 
had,  which  I  am  bound  in  honesty  to  mention.  In  the  course 
of  my  law-reading,  I  constantly  came  upon  the  word  demon 
strate.  I  thought,  at  first,  that  I  understood  its  meaning,  but 
soon  became  satisfied  that  I  did  not.  I  said  to  myself,  "  what 
do  I  do  when  I  demonstrate,  more  than  when  I  reason  or  prove  ? 
How  does  demonstration  differ  from  any  other  proof?  I  con 
sulted  Webster's  Dictionary.  That  told  of  "certain  proof," 
"proof  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt;"  but  I  could  form  no 
idea  what  sort  of  proof  that  was.  I  thought  a  great  many 
things  were  proved  beyond  a  possibility  of  doubt,  without 
recourse  to  any  such  extraordinary  process  of  reasoning  as  I 
understood  "  demonstration"  to  be.  I  consulted  all  the  diction- 
aries  and  books  of  reference  I  could  find,  but  with  no  better 
results.  You  might  as  well  have  defined  blue  to  a  blind  man. 
At  last  I  said,  "  Lincoln,  you  can  never  make  a  lawyer  if  you 
do  not  understand  what  demonstrate  means,"  and  I  left  my 


46  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

situation  in  Springfield,  went  home  to  my  father's  house,  and 
stayed  there  till  I  could  give  any  propositions  in  the  six  books 
of  Euclid  at  sight.  I  then  found  out  what  "demonstrate" 
means,  and  went  back  to  my  law  studies.' 

"  I  could  not  refrain  from  saying,  in  my  admiration  of  such 
a  development  of  character  and  genius  combined,  '  Mr.  Lincoln, 
your  success  is  no  longer  a  marvel.  It  is  the  legitimate  result 
of  adequate  causes.  You  deserve  it  all,  and  a  great  deal  more. 
If  you  will  permit  me  I  would  like  to  use  this  fact  publicly. 
It  will  be  most  valuable  in  inciting  our  young  men  to  that 
patient  classical  and  mathematical  culture  which  most  minds 
absolutely  require.  No  man  can  talk  well  unless  he  is  able, 
first  of  all,  to  define  to  himself  what  he  is  talking  about. 
Euclid,  well  studied,  would  free  the  world  of  half  its  calamities, 
by  banishing  half  the  nonsense  which  now  deludes  and  curses 
it.  I  have  often  thought  that  Euclid  would  be  one  of  the  best 
books  to  put  on  the  catalogue  of  the  Tract  Society,  if  they 
could  only  get  people  to  read  it.  It  would  be  a  means  of 
grace.' 

" '  I  think  so,'  said  he,  laughing ;  '  I  vote  for  Euclid.' " 

Books  of  course,  were  his  great  delight,  and  the  pro 
curing  of  a  sufficient  number  of  them  to  employ  his 
mind,  one  of  his  principal  anxieties.  In  this  his  father 
did  much  to  aid  him,  and  whenever  he  heard  of  any 
particular  volume  which  he  thought  desirable,  or  for 
which  Abraham  asked,  he  always  endeavored  to  obtain 
it  for  the  use  of  his  son.  His  teacher,  Mr.  Crawford, 
also  frequently  loaned  him  books  which,  he  could  not 
otherwise  have  procured. 

In  this  way  he  became  aquainted  with  Bunyan's 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  ^Esop's  Fables,*  a  Life  of  Henry 

*  May  we  not  presume  this  selection  to  be  an  indication  of  that  love 
for  anecdote  which  has  made  our  Chief  Magistrate  so  distinguished  as  a 
relater  of  pithy  stories. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN'S   THIRTEEN   YEARS   IN   INDIANA.    47 

Clay,*  and  Weems'  Life  of  Washington.  The  " hatchet" 
story  of  Washington,  which  has  probably  done  more  to 
make  boys  truthful,  than  a  hundred  solemn  exhorta 
tions,  made  a  strong  impression  upon  Abraham,  and 
was  undoubtedly,  one  of  those  unseen,  gentle  influences 
which  helped  to  form  his  character  for  integrity  and 
honesty.  Its  effect  may  be  traced  in  the  following 
story,  which  bids  fair  to  become  as  never-failing  an 
accompaniment  to  a  Life  of  Lincoln,  as  the  hatchet 
story  is  to  that  of  Washington. 

Mr.  Crawford  had  lent  him  a  copy  of  Kamsey's  Life 
of  Washington,  the  only  copy  known  to  be  in  existence 
in  the  neighborhood.  Before  he  had  finished  reading 
the  book,  it  was  left  one  night,  by  a  not  unnatural  over 
sight,  in  a  window,  and  the  next  morning  it  was  found 
to  be  soaked  through  with  water.  The  wind  had 
changed,  the  rain  had  beaten  in  through  a  crack  in  the 
logs,  and  the  book  was  ruined.  How  could  he  face  the 
owner  under  such  circumstances  ?  He  had  no  money  to 
offer  as  a  return,  but  he  took  the  book,  went  directly  to 
Mr.  Crawford,  showed  him  the  irreparable  injury,  and 
frankly  and  honestly  offered  to  work  for  him  until  he 
should  be  satisfied. 

66  Well,  Abe,"  said  Crawford,  "as  it's  you  I  won't  be 
hard  on  you ;  come  over  and  pull  fodder  for  me  for  two 
days,  and  we  will  call  our  accounts  even !" 

The  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  engagement  literally 
fulfilled. 

The  book  was  of  course  worth  the  labor,  and  there  is 

*  This  fact  may  be  significant  when  we  reflect  that  Mr.  Lincoln  always 
remained  an  admirer  of  Mr.  Clay,  and  that  he  was  afterward  a  "  Clay 
Whig." 


48  THE   LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

therefore  nothing  to  be  admired  in  the  way  of  gen 
erosity.  But  the  honorable  part  of  the  incident  lies  in 
the  quick  acknowledgment  of  the  injury  Abraham  had 
caused  to  the  book,  and  the  eagerness  he  displayed  to 
furnish  its  owner  an  equivalent  for  its  value.  It  was 
simply  characteristic  of  the  honorable  conscientiousness, 
integrity  and  industry  which  so  distinguished  him  in 
after-life. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen,  Abraham,  then  a  full-grown, 
active  and  intelligent  young  man,  was  permitted  to  see 
more  of  the  world,  and  made  a  trip  down  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  rivers,  to  New  Orleans,  as  one  of  the  hands 
on  a  flatboat.  The  excursion,  while  it  gratified  the  love 
of  adventure  natural  to  his  years,  undoubtedly  added  to 
his  stock  of  useful  information,  and  served  in  no  slight 
degree  to  develop  that  spirit  of  intelligent  observation 
and  self-reliance  which  contributed  so  much  to  his  sub 
sequent  success  in  life. 

In  concluding  this  sketch  of  the  thirteen  important 
years  spent  by  Mr.  Lincoln  as  an  Indianian,  we  cannot 
refrain  from  presenting  to  our  readers  the  following 
graphic  personal  recollections  of  a  distinguished  lawyer* 
who  emigrated  to  that  State  about  the  same  time,  inas 
much  as  they  will  naturally  aid  in  conveying  a  correct 
impression  of  those  times,  as  well  as  of  the  circum 
stances  with  which  Lincoln's  youth  was  surrounded. 

"Indiana  was  born  in  the  year  1816,  with  some  sixty-five 
thousand  inhabitants — only  about  forty  years  a_go.  A  few 
counties  only  were  then  organized.  The  whole  middle,  north 

Early  Indian  Trials  and  Sketches.     Keminiscences,  by  Hon.  0.  H. 
,  page  285. 


THIRTEEN   YEARS   IN   INDIANA.  49 

and  northwest  portions  of  the  State  were  an  unbroken  wilder 
ness,  in  the  possession  of  the  Indians.  Well  do  I  remember 
when  there  were  but  two  families  settled  west  of  the  White 
water  Valley — one  at  Flat  Eock  above  where  Eushville  now 
stands,  and  the  other  on  Brandywine,  near  where  Greenfield 
was  afterwards  located.  When  I  first  visited  the  ground  on 
which  Indianapolis  now  stands,  the  whole  country,  east  to 
Whitewater  and  west  to  the  Wabash,  was  a  dense  unbroken 
forest.  There  were  no  public  roads,  no  bridges  over  any  of 
the  streams.  The  traveler  had  literally  to  swim  his  way.  No 
cultivated  farms,  no  houses  to  shelter  or  feed  the  weary  traveler 
or  his  jaded  horse.  The  courts,  years  afterward,  were  held  in 
log  huts,  and  the  juries  sat  under  the  shade  of  the  forest  trees. 
I  was  Circuit  Prosecuting  Attorney  at  the  time  of  the  trials  at 
the  falls  of  Fall  creek,  where  Pendleton  now  stands.  Four  of 
the  prisoners  were  convicted  of  murder,  and  three  of  them 
hung,  for  killing  Indians.  The  court  was  held  in  a  double  log- 
cabin,  the  grand-jury  sat  upon  a  log  in  the  woods,  and  the  fore 
man  signed  the  bills  of  indictment  which  I  had  prepared  upon 
his  knee ;  there  was  not  a  petit-juror  that  had  shoes  on — all 
wore  moccasins,  and  were  belted  around  the  waist,  and  carried 
side  knives  used  by  the  hunter.  The  products  of  the  country 
consisted  of  peltries,  the  wild  game  killed  in  the  forest  by  the 
Indian  hunters,  the  fish  caught  in  the  interior  lakes,  rivers,  and 
creeks,  the  pawpaw,  wild  plum,  haws,  small  berries  gathered 
by  the  squaws  in  the  woods.  The  travel  was  confined  to  the 
single  horse  and  his  rider,  the  commerce  to  the  pack-saddle, 
and  the  navigation  to  the  Indian  canoe.  Many  a  time  and  oil 
have  I  crossed  our  swollen  streams,  by  day  and  by  night,  some 
times  swimming  my  horse  and  at  others  paddling  the  rude  bark 
canoe  of  the  Indian.  Such  is  a  mere  sketch  of  our  State  when 
I  traversed  its  wilds,  and  I  am  not  one  of  its  first  settlers." 

Amid  such  scenes,  and  in  this  rough  but  natural  state 
of  society,  young  Lincoln  reached  the  verge  of  man- 


50  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

hood,  with  a  strong  and  muscular  frame,  a  rugged  con 
stitution,  a  frank  and  courteous  heart  and  demeanor, 
and  a  character  conspicuous  for  honesty  and  energy. 
Indeed,  if  we  may  believe  the  statements  of  those  who 
knew  him  at  this  early  period,  this  stalwart  stripling, 
who,  even  then,  stood  nearly  six  feet  and  four  inches 
high,  was  no  less  remarkable  for  his  mental  and  moral 
characteristics  than  for  his  physical  proportions.  Al 
ready,  albeit  unknown  to  himself  and  unsuspected  by 
others,  the  training  of  that  rough  experience  through 
which  he  was  passing,  was  insensibly,  but  no  less  surely, 
moulding  both  body  and  mind  into  perfect  fitness  for  the 
high  and  noble  destiny  which  awaited  him  in  the  future. 
God  had  set  him  apart  for  a  special  work  upon  this 
earth — a  work  full  of  importance,  not  to  himself  alone, 
but  to  his  country,  to  humanity  itself — and,  looking  at 
his  now  perfectly  completed  life,  we  can  see  how,  step 
by  step,  every  phase  of  his  varied  experience  was  made 
subservient  to  his  proper  preparation  for  that  work.  ^ 


LINCOLN   IN   ILLINOIS.  51 


CHAPTER    III. 

LINCOLN  IN  ILLINOIS,  AS  A  RAIL-SPLITTER,  A  CLERK,  AND 
A  VOLUNTEER. 

Removal  of  the  Family  to  Illinois. — Abraham  figures  as  a  Rail-Splitter. — 
As  a  Hiinter. — Another  Removal  of  his  Father. — Abraham  commences 
Life  on  his  own  Account. — Makes  a  Trip  to  New  Orleans. — Becomes  a 
Clerk  in  a  Country  Store. — Is  elected  Captain  of  a  Volunteer  Company 
and  serves  in  the  Black  Hawk  War. — Anecdote  concerning  his  tem 
perate  Habits. — His  own  humorous  Account  of  his  Services  in  this 
War. — His  Character  as  a  Soldier. 

PUBLIC  attention  in  the  western  and  southern  country 
now  began  to  be  attracted,  more  decidedly  than  before, 
to  the  vast  resources  and  fertile  "  bottom  lands"  of 
Illinois.  This  State,  organized  as  a  Territory  in  1809, 
and  admitted  into  the  Union  nine  years  later,  in  1818, 
had,  even  as  late  as  1820,  only  a  population  of  fifty-five 
thousand  two  hundred  and  eleven ;  and  this  was  almost 
exclusively  located  south  of  the  National  Road,  which 
crosses  the  Kaskaskia  river  at  Vandalia,  extending 
nearly  due  west  to  Alton.  Notwithstanding  the  severe 
labors  of  opening  the  forests  on  the  rich  western  soil, 
and  the  long  period  that  must  necessarily  elapse  before 
the  perfect  subjugation  of  the  land  into  cultivated  farms, 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  general  avoidance,  even  to 
comparatively  a  late  period,  of  the  open  prairie,  which 
is  now  thought  to  offer  such  pre-eminent  facilities  for 
cultivation,  with  almost  immediate  repayment  for  the 
toil  bestowed.  The  settlers  who  had  gone  into  Illinois, 


52  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

evidently  placed  a  low  estimate  upon  the  prairie  lands, 
and  always  settled  on  the  banks  of  some  stream,  on 
which  there  was  plenty  of  timber,  seeking  the  forest  by 
preference  for  their  homes.  The  open  character  of  the 
country  undoubtedly  repelled  emigration,  and  caused  it 
to  be  concentrated  on  the  chief  streams,  for  a  long  time, 
until  at  last  it  commenced  in  earnest. 

The  earliest  waves  of  this  emigration,  as  in  the  case 
of  Indiana,  came  from  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  so  that 
the  character  of  its  society  and  legislation  was  strongly 
colored  by  the  southern  element.  While  there  was  still 
discernible  a  lurking  attachment  to  the  peculiar  institu 
tions  of  the  States  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ohio  river, 
the  general  tenor  of  public  sentiment  and  action  was  as 
positive  and  distinct  as  were  the  opinions  of  the  north 
ern  settlers  of  these  new  commonwealths.  Yet  the 
views  of  slavery  at  that  time  prevalent  in  southern 
Indiana  and  Illinois,  were  not  much  diverse  from  those 
which  were  entertained  in  the  communities  from  which 
these  settlers  had  come.  Slavery  w^as  regarded  as  an 
evil  to  be  rid  of;  and  to  make  sure  of  this,  those  who 
were  not  already  too  much  entangled  with  it,  left  in 
large  numbers  for  a  region  which,  by  request  of  Virginia 
herself,  the  donor,  was  "  forever"  protected  from  the 
inroads  of  this  moral  and  social  mischief. 

From  1820  to  1830,  however,  there  was  a  marked 
extension  of  settlements  northward,  toward  the  centre 
of  the  State,  and  along  the  Mississippi  to  Galena,  where 
the  mines  w^ere  beginning  to  be  worked.  The  rivers 
along  which  the  principal  settlements  had  been  made, 
aside  from  the  great  boundary  rivers,  the  Mississippi, 
the  Ohio,  and  the  Wabash,  were  the  Kaskaskia,  the 


LINCOLN   IN   ILLINOIS.  53 

Embarras,  and  the  Sangamon,  together  with  their 
branches.  A  few  settlements,  also,  had  been  in  the 
Rock  river  country,  and  in  the  range  of  Peoria, — and 
the  population  thus  distributed  had  now  (1830)  reached 
one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  four  hundred  and 
forty-five. 

The  brothers  of  Thomas  Lincoln  had  previously  re 
moved  to  a  more  northern  direction  in  Indiana  than 
that  which  he  had  occupied,  both  settling  in  the  Blue 
river  country — Mordecai  in  Hancock  county,  where 
he  soon  after  died,  and  Josiah  in  Harrison  county. 
Whether  their  example  had  its  influence  upon  Thomas, 
or  whether  the  nomadic  spirit  which  was  a  part  of  his 
character  reasserted  its  sway  over  him,  we  do  not  know; 
but  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  immediate  or 
remote,  he  left  Indiana  in  the  spring  of  1830,  to  seek 
another  place  of  abode  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  In  ad 
dition  to  his  own  family,  he  was  accompanied  by  those 
of  the  two  daughters  and  sons-in-law  of  his  second  wife. 
The  journey,  which  occupied  fifteen  days,  was  accom 
plished  by  ox-teams.  Abraham  at  this  time  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age. 

Mr.  Lincoln  "had  seen  the  growth  of  Kentucky  from 
almost  the  very  start  to  a  population  of  nearly  seven 
hundred  thousand,  and  he  had  lived  in  Indiana  from 
the  time  its  inhabitants  numbered  only  sixty-five  thou 
sand  until  they  had  reached  nearly  three  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand.  As  he  first  set  his  foot  within  the  limits 
of  Illinois,  its  vast  territory  had  comparatively  but  just 
begun  to  be  occupied — scarcely  at  all,  as  we  have  seen, 
except  in  the  extreme  southern  portion,  and  here  almost 
exclusively  along  the  principal  streams.  In  a  country 


0-4  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

so  poorly  supplied  with  wood  and  water  as  Illinois,  such 
sites  would  naturally  be  the  first  to  be  taken  up,  and, 
with  a  prairie  addition,  suited  the  tastes  even  of  those 
to  whom  the  level  open  country  was  forbidding  in  ap 
pearance. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  pushed  forward  to  the  central  part  of 
the  State  where  such  locations  were  still  abundant.  A 
more  beautiful  country  than  that  of  the  Sangamon  val 
ley  could  not  easily  have  been  anywhere  discovered  by 
an  explorer.  It  was  not  strange  that  the  report  of  such 
lands,  if  he  heard  it  in  his  southern  Indiana  home, 
should  have  attracted  even  so  far  one  who  was  bred  to 
pioneer  life  and  inherited  a  migratory  disposition.  He 
first  settled  on  the  Sangamon  '  bottom,  in  Macon 
county. 

"  Passing  over  the  Illinois  Central  railroad,  as  you 
approach  Decatur,  the  county-seat  of  Macon,  from  the 
south,  a  slightly-broken  country  is  reached  two  or  three 
miles  from  that  place,  and  presently  the  North  Fork  of 
the  Sangamon,  over  which  you  pass,  a  mile  from  the 
town.  This  stream  flows  westwardly,  uniting  with  the 
South  Fork,  near  Jamestown,  ten  miles  from  Springfield. 
Following  down  this  North  Fork  for  a  distance  of  about 
ten  miles  from  Decatur,  you  come  to  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  first  residence  of  Abraham  Lincoln  (with 
his  father's  family)  in  Illinois." 

During  the  first  season  of  their  abode  in  the  new  State 
Abraham  continued  to  help  his  father  in  the  farm  work ; 
and  one  of  the  first  duties  which  presented  itself  was 
the  necessity  of  fencing  a  field  on  the  rich  bottom-lands 
which  had  been  selected  for  cultivation.  For  this  pur 
pose,  with  the  help  of  one  laborer,  Abraham  Lincoln  at 


LINCOLN   IN   ILLINOIS.  55 

this  time  split  THREE  THOUSAND  RAILS — a  task  indicative 
of  his  energy  and  perseverance  no  less  than  of  his  great 
physical  strength  and  endurance.  The  hand  who  as 
sisted  him  in  the  exploit,  named  John  Hanks,  a  distant 
relative  of  his  mother,  is  yet  living,  and  bears  unquali 
fied  testimony  to  the  earnest  strength  with  which  the 
maul  and  the  wedge  were  wielded  by  the  future  Presi 
dent.  These  rails  afterward  became  the  theme  of  joke, 
song  and  story.  During  the  Presidential  campaign  of 
1860,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  accidentally  present  at  the  sit 
ting  of  the  Republican.  State  Convention  at  Decatur — 
near  his  old  Sangamon  home — and  was  received  with 
the  greatest  enthusiasm.  He  had  scarcely  taken  his 
seat  when  Mr.  Oglesby,  of  Decatur,  announced  to  the 
delegates  that  an  old  Democrat  of  Macon  county,  who 
had  grown  gray  in  the  service  of  that  party,  desired  to 
make  a  contribution  to  the  convention,  and  the  offer 
being  accepted,  forthwith  two  old-time  fence-rails,  deco 
rated  with  flags  and  streamers,  were  borne  through  the 
crowd  into  the  Convention,  bearing  the  inscription : 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN, 

THE  BAIL  CANDIDATE 
FOR    PRESIDENT    IN    I860. 


Two  Rails  from  a  lot  of  three  thousand  made  in  1830 
by  John  Hanks  and  Abe.  Lincoln — whose  Father  was 
the  first  pioneer  of  Macon  County. 


The  effect  was  electrical.  One  spontaneous  burst  of 
applause  went  up  from  all  parts  of  the  "wigwam," 
which  grew  more  and  more  deafening  as  it  was  pro- 
Iqnged,  and  which  did  not  wholly  subside  for  ten  or 


56  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

fifteen  minutes  after.  The  cheers  upon  cheers  which 
rent  the  air  could  have  been  heard  all  over  the  adjacent 
country.  Of  course  "  Old  Abe"  was  called  out,  and 
made  an  explanation  of  the  matter.  He  stated  that, 
some  thirty  years  ago,  then  just  emigrating  to  the  State, 
he  stopped  with  his  mother's  family,  for  one  season,  in 
what  is  now  Macon  county ;  that  he  built  a  cabin,  split 
rails,  and  cultivated  a  small  farm  down  on  the  Sanga- 
mon  river,  some  six  or  eight  miles  from  Decatur.  These 
rails,  he  was  informed,  were  taken  from  that  fence;  but, 
whether  they  were  or  not,  he  had  mauled  many  and 
much  better  ones  since  he  had  grown  to  manhood.  His 
remarks  were  received  with  applause,  and  "  the  rails" 
were  thenceforth  in  demand  in  every  State  of  the  Union 
in  which  industry  is  honored,  where  they  were  borne  in 
processions  of  the  people,  and  hailed  by  hundreds  of 
thousands  as  a  symbol  of  triumph,  and  as  a  glorious 
vindication  of  freedom  and  of  the  rights  and  dignity  of 
free  labor. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  settlers  on  the  Sangamon. 
Having  built  their  cabin  and  fenced  their  farm,  they 
broke  the  ground,  and  raised  a  crop  of  sod-corn  on  it 
the  first  year,  the  sons-in-law,  meantime,  having  settled 
at  other  places  in  the  country.  A  hard  siege  of  fever 
and  ague  afflicted  the  new  settlers  before  the  close  of 
the  first  autumn,  which  so  greatly  discouraged  them 
that  they  determined  to  seek  a  more  congenial  location. 
They  remained,  however,  through  the  succeeding  winter, 
which  was  the  season  of  the  "  deep  snow"  of  Illinois. 
For  three  weeks,  or  more,  the  snow  was  three  feet  deep 
upon  a  level,  and  the  weather  intensely  cold.  There 
was  great  consequent  suffering  entailed  upon  beaste  *is 


LINCOLN   IN   ILLINOIS.  57 

well  as  men — all  being  totally  unprepared  for  such 
extraordinary  severity  of  climate.  Our  pioneers  were 
fortunate  in  having  a  sufficient  supply  of  corn,  but  they 
had  laid  up  an  insufficient  quantity  of  meat,  and  the 
deep  snow  seriously  interfered  with  their  dependence 
upon  their  rifles.  Abraham,  however,  willingly  braved 
any  and  every  hardship  to  relieve  their  household 
wants,  and  by  his  untiring  exertions,  managed  to  fur 
nish  enough  game  to  keep  the  family  in  food,  though  he 
was  not  a  firslxrate  hunter,  his  love  for  books  having 
early  overcome  the  fondness  and  enthusiasm  with 
which  he  had  at  first  adopted  the  rifle. 

"  We  seldom  went  hunting  together,"  writes  one 
of  his  early  associates  on  this  subject.  "Abe  was  not 
a  noted  hunter,  as  the  time  spent  by  other  boys  in  such 
amusements,  was  improved  by  him  in  the  perusal  of 
some  good  book." 

Discouraged  by  the  sickness  and  the  severe  winter 
which  had  befallen  them  during  the  first  year,  the 
family  remained  here  no  longer  than  the  spring  of 
1831 — moving  into  Coles  county,  some  sixty  or  seventy 
miles  to  the  eastward,  on  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Kaskaskia  and  Embarras.  There  the  father  rested,  at 
length,  from  his  wanderings,  and  there  he  died,  at 
a  ripe  old  age,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1851,  in  his 
seventy-third  year.  Abraham,  however,  did  not  accom 
pany  his  father  and  family  in  this,  their  last  removal ; 
but,  being  now  of  age,  assumed  for  the  first  time,  his 
independence,  and  commenced  life  on  his  own  account. 
During  the  preceding  winter,  young  Lincoln,  together 
with  his  step-mother's  son,  John  D.  Johnston,  and  his 
former  fellow-laborer,  John  Hanks  (yet  residing  in 


58  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Macon  county),  had  engaged  themselves  to  one  Dennis 
Offult,  to  aid  him  in  a  flat-boat  trip  from  Beardstown, 
Illinois,  to  New  Orleans, — agreeing  to  meet  with  him  at 
Springfield  as  soon  as  the  snow  should  disappear.  But 
when  the  snow  melted  (in  the  early  part  of  March, 
1831),  the  country  was  so  flooded  as  to  make  travelling 
by  land  impracticable,  so  they  purchased  a  large  canoe, 
in  which  they  came  down  the  Sangamon  river.  On 
reaching  the  place  of  rendezvous,  they  found  that  Offult 
had  been  disappointed  by  a  person,  on  whom  he  had 
relied  to  furnish  him  a  boat  on  the  Illinois  river.  Ac 
cordingly,  the  three  adventurers  hired  themselves  to 
their  employer,  at  the  rate  of  twelve  dollars  per  month 
each;  and  then  all  hands  set  to  work,  getting  out 
timber  and  building  a  boat,  at  old  Sangamon  town,  on 
the  Sangamon  river,  seven  miles  northwest  of  Spring 
field.  In  this  boat  they  made  a  successful  voyage  to 
New  Orleans  and  back,  substantially  on  the  terms  of 
the  original  contract. 

It  has  been  said,  by  his  friends,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  fre 
quently  referred  with  much  pleasant  humor,  to  this 
early  experience,  relating  some  of  its  incidents  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  afford  abundant  amusement  to  his 
auditors.  In  truth,  he  was  a  youth  who  could  adapt 
himself  to  this  or  any  other  honest  work,  which  his 
circumstances  required  of  him,  with  a  cheerfulness  and 
alacrity — a  certain  practical  humor — rarely  equaled. 
To  him  the  hardest  labor  was  mere  pastime;  and  his 
manly  presence,  to  other  laborers,  was  a  constant  inspi 
ration  and  a  charm  which  lightened  their  burdens. 

It  was  midsummer  when  the  young  flat-boatman 
returned  from  this  trip,  his  second  and  last  in  that 


LINCOLN   IN   ILLINOIS.  59 

capacity.  OfFult,  the  manager  of  the  expedition,  under 
took  to  establish  himself  in  business  at  New  Salem, 
twenty  miles  below  Springfield,  in  Menard  county — 
where  he  opened  a  store,  and,  also,  a  flouring  mill. 
Having  taken  a  liking  to  young  Lincoln  during  their 
flat-boat  enterprise,  he  was  naturally  anxious  to  secure 
his  services  in  the  new  business,  in  which  he  was  about 
to  embark.  Having  no  other  immediate  employment  in 
view,  and  being  entirely  dependent  upon  his  own  exer 
tions  for  a  living,  Abraham  accepted  the  offer,  and 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  a  clerk — attending  to  both 
branches  of  his  employer's  business — which  it  is  almost 
needless  to  say,  were  faithfully  and  cheerfully  performed. 
While  acting  in  this  capacity,  he  made  many  acquaint^ 
ances  and  friends,  and  won  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  all  with  whom  he  had  business  dealings — and  it  was 
during  this  period  of  his  life  that  he  came  to  be  fami 
liarly  known  as  "  Honest  Abe." 

"An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God,"  is  the 
oft-quoted  remark  of  the  poet,  and  truly  this  appellation, 
which  has  so  closely  adhered  to  Abraham  Lincoln  from 
that  day  to  the  latest  hour  of  his  life,  is  a  richer  tribute 
of  praise,  a  more  enduring  coronet  of  glory  to  his  many 
virtues,  than  is  often  vouchsafed  to  those  of  more  kingly 
lineage,  or  more  exalted  station. 

Offult's  business,  however,  did  not  prove  very  success 
ful,  and  Lincoln's  clerkship,  in  a  little  less  than  a  year, 
was  abruptly  terminated  (in  1832)  by  the  outbreak  of 
the  "  Black  Hawk  war." 

During  the  previous  spring  (1831)  the  noted  Black 
Hawk,  of  the  Sac  tribe  of  Indians,  repudiating  the 
treaty  of  1804,  by  which  they  had  been  removed  beyond 


60  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  Mississippi,  made  an  attempt  to  repossess  his  old 
hunting-grounds,  and  to  establish  himself  where  the 
principal  village  of  his  nation  before  had  been,  in  the 
Rock-river  country.  The  Indians  began  to  commit 
depredations  upon  the  property  of  the  white  settlers, 
destroying  their  crops,  pulling  down  their  fences,  driving 
off  and  slaughtering  their  cattle,  and  ordering  the 
settlers  themselves  to  leave,  on  penalty  of  massacre  if 
they  remained. 

In  response  to  the  representations  of  Governor 
Reynolds,  to  whom  the  settlers  applied  for  protection, 
General  Gaines,  commanding  the  United  States  forces 
in  that  quarter,  took  prompt  and  decisive  measures 
to  expel  the  invaders  from  the  State.  With  a  few 
companies  of  regular  soldiers,  he  at  once  took  up  his 
position  at  Rock  Island,  and  at  his  call,  several  hundred 
volunteers  assembled  from  the  northern  and  central 
parts  of  the  State,  upon  the  proclamation  of  Governor 
Reynolds,  joined  him  a  month  later.  This  little  army, 
distributed  into  two  regiments,  an  additional  battalion, 
and  a  spy  battalion,  was  the  most  formidable  military 
force  yet  seen  in  the  new  State.  The  expected  battle  did 
not  take  place,  the  Indians  having  suddenly  and  stealth 
ily  retired  again,  across  the  river.  And  shortly  after, 
apparently  intimidated  by  the  threats  and  firm  attitude 
of  General  Gaines,  the  wily  Black  Hawk  sued  for  peace, 
and  a  treaty  was  entered  into,  by  which  he  agreed  that 
he  and  his  tribe  should  ever  after  remain  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  unless  by  permission  of  the  general 
Government,  or  of  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 
In  express  violation,  however,  of  this  second  deliberate 
engagement,  Black  Hawk  and  his  followers  began,  early 


LINCOLN   IN   ILLINOIS.  61 

in  the  spring  of  1832,  as  we  have  seen,  to  make  prepa 
rations  for  another  invasion.  Whatever  may  be  said 
of  the  wrongs  inflicted  on  the  savage  tribes,  by  the 
white  race,  it  is  certain  that  the  bad  faith  shown  in  this 
case,  and  the  repeated  violation  of  deliberate  and  volun 
tary  agreements,  was  wholly  without  justification  or 
excuse.  No  provocation  or  plausible  pretext  had 
arisen  after  the  treaty  of  the  previous  June ;  yet  Black 
Hawk  was  under  the  misguided  influence  and  false 
representations  of  the  "  Prophet,"  who  persuaded  him 
to  believe  that  even  the  British  (to  whom  Black  Hawk 
had  always  been  a  fast  friend),  as  well  as  the  Ottawas, 
Chippewas,  Winnebagoes,  and  Pottawatomies,  would 
aid  them  in  regaining  their  village  and  the  adjoining 
lands.  Under  this  delusion,  to  which  the  wiser  Keokuk 
refused  to  become  a  dupe,  though  earnestly  invited 
to  join  them,  Black  Hawk  proceeded  to  gather  as  strong 
a  force  as  possible.  First  establishing  his  headquarters 
at  the  old  site  of  Fort  Madison,  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
he  proceeded,  with  his  women  and  children,  property 
and  camp  equipage,  and  a  strong  force  of  armed  war 
riors,  to  the  mouth  of  Kock  river ;  where,  in  the  early 
part  of  April,  1832,  the  whole  party  crossed  to  the  east 
side  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  avowed  purpose  of 
ascending  the  Kock  river  to  the  Winnebago  territory. 
An  order  from  General  Atkinson,  of  Eock  Island,  which 
overtook  him  on  his  route,  ordering  him  to  return 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  was  defiantly  disregarded. 

The  danger  now  seemed  imminent;  volunteer  com 
panies  were  immediately  formed  in  those  States  most 
exposed  to  the  foe,  and  among  others,  a  company 
was  raised  in  Menard  county,  in  the  formation  of 


62  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

which,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  conspicuously  active. 
From  New  Salem,  Clary's  Grove,  and  the  vicinity, 
an  efficient  force  was  gathered,  and  when  organized, 
their  choice  fell  on  Lincoln  for  captain.  This,  the  first 
promotion  which  he  had  ever  received  by  the  suffrages 
of  his  fellows,  could  not  have  been  otherwise  than 
flattering  to  his  unaspiring  and  modest  nature,  and 
may  be  regarded  as  a  pleasing  evidence  of  the  estima 
tion  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  friends  and  neighbors. 
He  was  wont  to  say  that  no  success  in  life  ever  gave 
him  such  unalloj^ed  satisfaction  as  this. 

An  anecdote  is  current  of  our  subject,  pertaining  to 
this  era  of  his  life,  which  is  not  unworthy  of  repetition. 

"  Soon  after  the  election  of  the  company  officers,  a  friend  of 
Captain  Lincoln's  had  vaunted  the  newly-elected  commander 
as  the  strongest  man  in  Illinois,  when  a  stranger,  who  was 
listening,  expressed  a  doubt  as  to  the  truth  of  the  assertion, 
at  the  same  time  mentioning  another  individual  whom  he 
considered  as  the  stouter  man.  The  friend  of  the  newly-elected 
captain  at  length  proposed  a  small  wager,  which  was  accepted, 
that  his  champion  could  lift  a  barrel  of  whiskey,  holding  forty 
gallons,  and  drink  out  of  the  bung-hole. 

"  The  interested  parties  proceeded  to  Captain.  Abe,  who  was 
nothing  averse  to  making  the  experiment  for  the  gratification 
of  his  friend.  A  barrel  of  whiskey  containing  the  necessary 
amount  of  gallons  was  accordingly  procured,  when  the  test  was 
performed  with  readiness  and  apparent  ease.  As  another  man 
might  have  raised  a  six-gallon  demijohn,  the  barrel  was  lifted, 
and  the  requisite  mouthful  extracted  from  the  bung-hole,  to 
the  astonishment  of  the  incredulous  stranger. 

"  'The  bet  ip  mine,'  cried  the  athlete's  admirer,  as  the  former 
replaced  the  barrel  on  the  floor ;  '  but  that  is  the  first  dram  of 
whiskey  I  ever  saw  you  swallow,  Abe.' 


LINCOLN  IN   ILLINOIS.  63 

"  The  captain  immediately  spirted  the  cheek  full  of  whiskey 
upon  the  floor,  with  the  exclamation : 

" '  And  I  haven't  swallowed  that,  you  see.' 

"  His  friend  burst  out  laughing  at  this  demonstration  of  the 
incorrigible  teetotalej^^And  this  same  friend,  long  afterward, 
writes :  ** 

"'That  was  the  only  drink  of  intoxicating  liquor  I  ever 
knew  him  to  take,  and  that  he  spirted  out  on  the  floor.' 

"Whether  true  or  not,  this  little  anecdote,  so  far  as  it 
concerns  the  whiskey,  is  in  keeping  with  the  temperate  habits 
which  have  since  distinguished  him." 

His  company  rendezvoused  at  Beardstown.  Here 
eighteen  hundred  men  were  speedily  assembled  and 
organized  into  four  regiments,  with  an  additional  spy 
battalion.  General  Samuel  Whiteside  was  in  command. 
General  James  D.  Henry  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
spy  battalion.  Leaving  Beardstown  on  the  27th  of 
April,  they  marched  to  the  mouth  of  Rock  river,  and 
after  marching  fifty  miles  along  its  course,  reached  the 
Prophet's  village,  which  they  left  in  flames,  and  then 
pushed  rapidly  forward  to  Dixon's  Ferry,  forty  miles 
beyond,  where  the  enemy  was  supposed  to  be.  On  the 
way,  they  received  additional  reinforcements,  and  on 
the  12th  of  May  their  advance  met  the  foe.  The 
skirmish  which  ensued,  rapidly  developed  into  an  en 
gagement  which  occupied  some  five  hundred  men  on 
each  side,  and  which  resulted  in  the  complete  rout  of 
the  whites,  known  to  this  day,  as  "  Stillman's  defeat." 
A  projected  renewal  of  the  conflict  on  the  following 
morning,  was  frustrated  by  the  sudden  disappearance  of 
the  wily  savages. 

A  council  of  war  resulted  in  a  decision  to  renew  the 


64  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

conflict  early  next  morning.  The  great  battle  which 
Captain  Lincoln  and  his  fellow-volunteers  had  come 
so  far  to  participate  in,  seemed  now  on  the  point  of 
becoming  a  reality.  And  notwithstanding  their  prema 
ture  advance  from  Prophetstown  fflfc  left  them  without 
the  necessary  supplies,  and  subjected  them  to  many 
privations,  they  made  up  for  the  absence  of  their  regular 
provisions  as  best  they  might,  and  were  ready,  with  the 
dawn,  for  the  day's  undertaking.  But  their  enemy  did 
not  await  their  coming.  Arrived  at  the  scene  of  yester 
day's  skirmish  and  flight,  they  found  not  a  straggler  of 
all  the  savage  forces.  They  had  gone  further  up  the 
river,  and  partly  dispersed,  to  commit  depredations  in 
the  surrounding  country. 

General  Whiteside  having  made  this  energetic  attempt 
to  fall  in  with  the  enemy  and  give  him  battle,  and 
having  buried  his  dead,  returned  to  camp,  where  he  was 
shortly  joined  by  General  Atkinson,  with  troops  and 
supplies,  increasing  the  number  of  the  army  to  two 
thousand  five  hundred,  and  a  few  weeks  more  would 
have  enabled  this  force  to  bring  the  war  to  a  successful 
termination. 

This  desirable  consummation  of  their  labors,  however, 
was  frustrated  by  the  impatience  of  the  volunteer  force, 
whose  term  of  service  had  expired,  to  return  to  their 
homes.  The  hardships  of  the  campaign,  in  their 
opinion,  far  exceeded  the  glory  which  they  had  hoped 
to  win,  and  their  disappointment  made  them  clamorous 
for  their  discharge.  They  were,  therefore,  marched  to 
Ottawa,  and  mustered  out  of  the  service  on  the  27th  and 
28th  of  May.  This  sudden  disbanding,  without  a  battle, 
and  with  no  results  accomplished,  was  somewhat  chafing 


LINCOLN   IN   ILLINOIS.  65 

.to  the  young  captain  from  Menard  county.  While 
others  murmured  and  dropped  out  of  what  seemed  to  be 
an  unprofitable  warfare,  he  remained  true  and  persistent 
to  his  convictions  ^^.uty ;  as  eager  for  the  fray,  and  as 
ambitious  to  perfoim  every  item  of  a  soldier's  labor  as 
he  was  at  the  outset.  His  imagination  had  not,  as  in 
the  case  of  others,  drawn  too  bright  a  picture  of  camp 
life,  and  he  was,  consequently,  not  as  much  disap 
pointed  as  they,  while  his  characteristic  hearty  earnest 
ness  in  his  work  imparted  cheerfulness  to  others,  and 
challenged  their  respect. 

We  are  not  surprised  to  learn,  therefore,  that  when 
Governor  Eeynolds — who  had  already  issued  a  call  for 
two  thousand  new  volunteers — asked  for  the  formation 
of  a  volunteer  regiment  from  those  just  discharged, 
Captain  Abraham  Lincoln  was  among  the  first  to  enroll 
himself  as  a  private,  as  did  also  General  Whiteside. 
Indeed,  in  calling  for  this  regiment,  Governor  Reynolds 
is  understood  to  have  acted  upon  the  expressed  sug 
gestions  of  Lincoln  and  others,  who  were  still  ready  to 
bear  their  part  of  the  campaign  to  its  close.  So  nobly 
true  was  Lincoln,  even  in  his  youth,  to  a  stern  sense  of 
duty,  and  so  earnest  in  his  wish  to  accomplish  whatever 
he  undertook. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  new  levies,  a  skirmishing 
fight  with  the  Indians  was  had  at  Burr  Oak  Grove,  on 
the  18th  of  June,  in  which  the  enemy  was  defeated 
with  considerable  loss.  Meanwhile  the  Indian  atrocities 
continued,  rendering  an  efficient  prosecution  of  the  war, 
to  its  termination,  indispensable. 

The  Winnebagocs  and  Pottawatomies  also  evinced  a 
hostile  disposition  toward  the  whites,  and  an  inclination 
5 


66  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

to  join  the  movement  of  Black  Hawk.     Accordingly, 
with  the  appearance  of  the  new  levies,  which  had  been 
divided  into  three  regiments,  and  their  junction  with  the 
regular  and  volunteer  forces  alrea^in  the  field,  the 
whole  number  of  volunteers  alone  bH%  thirty-two  hun 
dred,  the  army  was  placed  in  a  formidable  and  effective 
attitude  for  offensive  warfare,  and  finally  made  a  forward 
movement.     A  severe  action  at  Kellogg's  Grove,  in  the 
Indian  country,  on  the  25th  of  June,  resulted  in  the 
retreat  of  the  enemy,  with  much  loss.     Black  Hawk 
then  withdrew  his  forces  to  a  fortified  position,  at  the 
Four  Lakes,  the  present  site  of  Madison,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  awaited  the  issue  of  a  general  engagement. 
On  the  part  of  the  American  commanders,  the  cam 
paign  was  carried  forward  with  all  the  celerity  possible ; 
but  they  were  in  a  strange  country,  in  which,  for  lack  of 
correct  information,  they  were  obliged  to  advance  slowly 
and  cautiously.     Meanwhile,  the  new  volunteers  had 
many  of  them  become  discontented.     Nearly  two  months 
had  now  elapsed  since  the   opening  of  the  campaign, 
and  its  purpose  seemed  as  remote  from  accomplishment 
as  ever.     Their  numbers  had  become  reduced,  in  fact, 
one-half.     Wearisome  marches,  and  still  more  wearisome 
delays,  privations  and  exposure,  had  deprived  the  service 
of  whatever  romance  it  may  have  originally  possessed. 
They  were  fretfully  sickened  of  duty,  home-sick,  and 
eager   to   escape   from   the   restraints  of  military  life. 
This  state  of  feeling,  of  course,  hampered  the  action  of 
those  in  command,  and  had  its  effect  in  determining 
the  result  of  the  campaign.     Lincoln  was  not  of  this 
class.     As  on  his  previous  campaign,  he  accepted  what 
ever  befell  him  in  the  line  of  his  duty,  without  com- 


LINCOLN   IN   ILLINOIS.  67 

plaint  or  murmuring.  It  was  not  destined,  however, 
that  he  should  be  actively  engaged  in  any  encounter 
more  serious  than  those  already  mentioned.  The  forces 
were  divided  and  dispersed  in  different  directions  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  supplies,  and  while  thus 
divided,  that  portion  of  the  army  with  which  Lincoln 
was  not  connected,  coming  upon  Black  Hawk  and  his 
warriors  near  the  present  city  of  Madison,  signally 
defeated  and  routed  him,  driving  him  down  the  Wis 
consin  to  the  Mississippi,  where,  four  days  later,  the 
battle  of  Bad-ax  closed  the  war,  with  the  capture  of  the 
chief  and  his  warriors.  The  fates  were  against  our  hero, 
for  his  division  took  no  part  in  either  of  these  battles, 
and  before  the  last  term  of  enlistment  had  expired  the 
contest  was  at  an  end. 

We  cannot  better  close  our  brief  sketch  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  military  career,  than  by  presenting  his  own 
humorous  and  characteristic  reference  to  it  in  a  Con 
gressional  speech  delivered  during  the  canvass  of  1848. 
Sarcastically  commenting  on  the  efforts  of  General 
Cass's  biographers  to  render  him  conspicuous  as  a  mili 
tary  hero,  he  said : 

"  By  the  way,  Mr.  Speaker,  did  you  know  I  am  a 
military  hero  ?  Yes,  sir,  in  the  days  of  the  Black  Hawk 
war,  I  fought,  bled,  and  came  away!  Speaking  of 
General  Cass's  career  reminds  me  of  my  own.  I  was 
not  at  Stillman's  defeat,  but  I  was  about  as  near  it  as 
Cass  to  Hull's  surrender ;  and  like  him,  I  saw  the  place 
very  soon  afterward.  It  is  quite  certain  I  did  not  break 
my  sword,  for  I  had  none  to  break  ;  but  I  bent  a  musket 
pretty  badly  on  one  occasion.  If  Cass  broke  his  sword, 
the  idea  is,  he  broke  it  in  desperation.  I  bent  the  mus- 


68  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ket  by  accident.  If  General  Cass  went  in  advance  of 
me  in  picking  whortleberries,  I  guess  I  surpassed  him 
in  charges  upon  the  wild  onions.  If  he  saw  any  live, 
fighting  Indians,  it  was  more  than  I  did — but  I  had  a 
good  many  bloody  struggles  with  the  musquitoes ;  and 
although  I  never  fainted  from  loss  of  blood,  I  can  truly 
say  I  was  often  very  hungry. 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  if  I  should  ever  conclude  to  doff  what- 
ever  our  Democratic  friends  may  suppose  there  is  of 
black-cockade  Federalism  about  me,  and,  thereupon, 
they  should  take  me  up  as  their  candidate  for  the 
Presidency,  I  protest  they  shall  not  make  fun  of  me  as 
they  have  of  General  Cass,  by  attempting  to  write  me 
into  a  military  hero." 

But,  although  thus  humorously  deprecating  his  own 
services,  it  will  not  be  disputed  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-three,  faithfully  acted  his  part  as  a  sol 
dier,  with  an  energy  and  perseverance,  in  the  face  of 
peculiar  hardship,  which  rebuked  the  lukewarmness  and 
discontent  of  many  older  men  with  whom  he  was  asso 
ciated.  Though  he  never  set  up  any  claim  for  a  heroism 
which  opportunity  was  never  afforded  him  to  exhibit, 
he  believed  that  he  did  his  duty,  and  such  also  was  the 
opinion  of  others.  In  his  brief  career  of  three  months' 
service  he  acquired  the  reputation  of  a  favorite  in  the 
army — an  efficient  officer — and  a  brave,  patient,  and 
reliable  soldier. 

These  early  military  experiences  undoubtedly  had  no 
small  influence  in  developing  that  paternal  interest  in 
the  personal  welfare  of  the  private  soldier  and  sailor, 
and  that  intense  care  for  their  comfort  and  individual 
rights,  which  so  eminently  characterized  him  in  later 


LINCOLN    IN    ILLINOIS.  60 

years,  when,  as  President  of  a  great  republic,  he  was 
command er-in-chief  of  its  army  and  navy. 

The  feeling  which  enabled  him  to  sympathize  so  freely 
and  kindly  with  the  little  trials  of  these  humble  servants 
of  the  country — which  made  him  always  as  easy  of 
access  to  the  simple  private  as  to  the  Major-General- — 
which  led  him  so  frequently,  amid  his  all-engrossing 
cares,  to  visit  the  hospitals  where  these  brave  fellows 
lay  wounded  and  weary  with  patient  waiting ;  which, 
in  short,  seemed  to  make  J<  his  brave  boys  in  blue"  as 
near  and  dear  to  his  great  heart  as  if,  almost  they  were 
his  own  sons — this  feeling,  the  outgushing  of  his  exceed 
ing  kindness  of  disposition,  was,  no  doubt,  intensified 
by  the  remembrance  of  what  he  himself  had  experi 
enced  while  a  frontier  volunteer  in  the  old  "Black 
Hawk  War." 


70  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

MR.    LINCOLN    AS   A    POLITICIAN. 

He  becomes  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  but  is  defeated. — Becomes  a 
storekeeper,  and  postmaster. — Commences  the  study  of  law. — Studies 
and  practices  surveying.— Is  elected  to  the  Legislature.— Re-elected  for 
a  second  term. — Defines  his  position  on  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery. — 
Is  elected  for  a  third  and  fourth  time,  to  the  Legislature. — Is  admitted 
to  the  practice  of  law. — His  characteristics  as  a  lawyer. — Thrilling 
incident  of  his  law  practice. — His  associates  of  the  Springfield  Bar. — 
Enters  warmly  into  the  Presidential  canvass  of  1840. — Accepts,  in 
1842,  the  Whig  nomination  for  Congress. — Establishes  his  home  at 
Springfield. — His  marriage. 

MR.  LINCOLN  had  now  reached  a  point  in  his  history, 
when  he  was  about  to  enter  upon  a  new  and  different 
walk  of  life,  from  any  which  he  had  ever  before  tried ; 
and  one  in  which,  as  a  professional  man  and  a  states 
man,  he  was  destined  to  attain  a  success  and  an  emi 
nence,  which  has  since  rendered  his  name  world- 
renowned  in  the  history  of  his  country,  and  in  the 
interests  of  humanity.  The  whole  varied  experience 
of  his  previous  life  had  been  a  course  of  unconscious 
training  for  the  conspicuous  part  which,  in  the  provi 
dence  of  God,  he  was  to  assume  in  public  affairs.  His 
rough  experiences  had  taught  him  much  of  the  world, 
of  men  and  their  motives,  and  he  had,  also,  gained  some 
true  knowledge  of  himself.  The  stern  discipline  of 
those  youthful  years  of  toil  and  penury,  so  cheerfully 
and  manfully  met,  was  about  to  prove  "  its  own  exceed- 


MR.    LINCOLN   AS   A   POLITICIAN.  71 

ing  great  reward"  to  him.  And,  though  his  fortune  was 
yet  to  be  "  wooed  and  won,"  with  severe  and  persistent 
labor,  yet,  from  this  time  forward,  his  future  gradually 
assumed  a  more  genial  phase.  He  had  come  home 
from  the  war  with  no  definite  business  to  resort  to,  and 
still  under  the  necessity  of  immediately  devoting  his 
energies  to  self-support.  His  military  campaign  had 
infused  a  greater  degree  of  self-confidence  within  him, 
than  he  had  previously  possessed,  and,  chosen  as  captain 
above  a  hundred  of  his  fellows,  it  would  be  strange, 
indeed,  if  the  youth  did  not  have  some  aspirations 
for  distinction  in  life.  He  had,  in  his  peculiar  way, 
strongly  attached  his  associates  to  him,  and  had  won,  to 
a  remarkable  degree,  for  so  young  a  man,  the  entire 
confidence  and  respect  of  the  community  amongst  whom 
he  lived. 

"Proof  of  this  is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  he  became, 
on  returning  home,  a  candidate  for  representative  in  the 
State  Legislature,  the  election  of  which  was  close  at 
hand.  A  youth  of  twenty-three,  and  not  generally 
known  throughout  the  country,  or  able,  in  the  brief 
time  allowed,  to  make  himself  so,  it  may  have  an 
appearance  of  presumption  for  him  to  have  allowed  the 
use  of  his  name  as  a  candidate.  He  was  not  elected, 
certainly,  and  could  hardly  have  thought  such  an  event 
possible ;  yet  the  noticeable  fact  remains  that  he  received 
so  wonderful  a  vote  in  his  own  precinct,  where  he  was 
best  if  not  almost  exclusively  known,  as  may  almost  be 
said  to  have  made  his  fortune.  His  precinct  (he  had 
now  settled  in  Sangamon  county)  was  strongly  for 
Jackson,  while  Lincoln  had,  from  the  start,  warmly 
espoused  the  cause  of  Henry  Clay.  The  State  election 


72  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

occurred  in  August,  and  the  Presidential  election  two  or 
three  months  later,  the  same  season.  Political  feeling 
ran  high,  at  this  the  second  election  (as  it  proved) 
of  Jackson.  Notwithstanding  this,  such  was  the  popu 
larity  which  young  Lincoln  had  brought  home  with  him 
from  the  war,  that  out  of  the  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  votes  cast  in  his  precinct,  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven — the  entire  vote  wanting  seven — were  cast  for 
him;  there  being,  in  all,  eight  aspirants  for  the  legis 
lative  distinction.  Yet,  a  little  later  in  the  same  canvass, 
General  Jackson  received  a  majority  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty-five  for  the  Presidency,  from  the  very  same 
men,  over  Mr.  Clay,  whose  cause  Lincoln  was  known  to 
favor.  So  marked  an  indication  as  this  of  his  personal 
power  to  draw  votes,  made  him  a  political  celebrity 
at  once,  and  in  future  elections  it  became  a  point  with 
aspirants  to  seek  to  combine  his  strength  in  their  favor, 
by  placing  Lincoln's  name  on  their  ticket,  to  secure  his 
battalion  of  voters.  When  two  years  later,  he  was 
elected  to  the  Legislature  for  the  first  time,  his  majority 
ranged  about  two  hundred  votes  higher  than  the  rest  of 
the  ticket  on  which  he  ran." 

This,  his  first  political  contest,  was  the  only  one 
in  which  he  was  ever  defeated  in  a  direct  issue  before 
the  people;  and,  although  a  defeat,  may  well  be  re 
garded  as  a  remarkable  and  auspicious  beginning  of  his 
public  career.  At  this  period  of  his  life,  as  ever  after, 
he  seems  to  have  been  influenced  by  no  spirit  of  dema- 
gogism  or  desire  of  personal  advancement,  for  the  Whig 
party,  at  this  time,  constituted  a  very  small,  indeed,  an 
almost  hopeless,  minority  in  the  public  councils  of 
the  State  of  Illinois,  which  twice  had  given  overwhelm- 


MR.   LINCOLN  AS  A  POLITICIAN.  73 

ing  majorities  for  the  election  of  Andrew  Jackson  to  the 
Presidency. 

Here,  then,  in  the  Democratic  party,  was  an  oppor 
tunity  for  a  young  man  of  talent  and  popularity  to 
make  rapid  advance  in  political  honors.  Abraham 
Lincoln,  however,  was  not  the  one  to  be,  for  a  single 
moment,  influenced  by  such  motives.  Warmly  he 
espoused,  and  sturdily  labored  for  the  then  weaker 
cause,  because  he  believed  it  to  be  the  people's  cause. 

Henry  Clay  was  his  model,  as  statesman  and  poli 
tician,  and  always  continued  such  while  any  issues  were 
left  to  contend  for  of  the  celebrated  system  of  the  great 
Kentuckian. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  now  desirous  of  studying  law,  but 
his  limited  education  and  lack  of  pecuniary  means  pre 
vented  him  from  immediately  carrying  out  his  wishes. 
Presently  a  man  offered  to  sell,  and  did  sell,  to  him  and 
a  partner  as  poor  as  himself,  an  old  stock  of  goods  upon 
credit — and  with  these  they  opened  a  store,  which 
he  used  to  say  was  THE  store — but  it  was  unsuccessful, 
and  after  a  while  "winked  out."  During  this  period, 
also,  he  held  the  appointment  of  postmaster  at  New 
Salem,  an  office  which  hardly  compensated  him  for  the 
trouble  it  gave  him. 

Nothing  daunted  by  this  turn  of  ill-luck,  he  directed 
his  attention  to  law,  and  borrowing  a  few  books  from  a 
neighbor,  which  he  took  from  the  office  in  the  evening 
and  returned  in  the  morning,  he  learned  the  rudiments 
of  the  profession  in  which  he  has  since  become  so 
distinguished.  He  also  pursued  other  branches  of  study 
with  equal  diligence,  and  made  himself  somewhat  pro 
ficient  in  grammar ;  while  his  better  opportunities  gave 


74  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

him  the  means  of  far  more  extensive  reading  than 
he  had  hitherto  enjoyed.  It  was  his  custom  to  write 
out  an  epitome  of  every  book  he  read — a  process  which 
served  to  impress  the  contents  more  indelibly  on  his 
memory,  as  well  as  to  give  him  skill  in  composition.* 

He  improved  every  opportunity  to  cultivate  his  in 
tellect,  often  studying  his  law-books  far  into  the  night 
by  the  reflection  of  the  log-fire  in  his  farm-home  on  the 
prairies.  He  was  early  distinguished  for  a  disputational 
turn  of  mind,  and  many  are  the  intellectual  triumphs 
of  his  in  the  country  or  village  lyceum,  related  by  old 
settlers  who  remember  him  as  he  then  appeared.  His 
strong,  natural,  direct,  and  irresistible  logic,  marked 
him  then,  as  it  has  ever  since,  as  an  intellectual  king. 

While  thus  pursuing  his  law  studies  he  made  the  ac 
quaintance  of  John  Calhoun,  since  President  of  the 
Lecompton  (Kansas)  Constitutional  Convention,  who 
proposed  to  him  to  learn  the  art  of  surveying.  Lincoln 
followed  the  suggestion,  procured  a  compass  and  chain, 
studied  Flint  and  Gibson  a  little — frequently  went  with 
Mr.  Calhoun  to  the  field — and,  in  a  short  time,  set  up 
for  a  surveyor  on  his  own  account.  This,  fortunately 
for  him,  was  at  a  time  when  the  mania  for  speculation 
in  western  lands  was  beginning  to  spread  over  the  coun 
try,  and  towns  and  cities  without  number  were  laid  out 
in  all  directions  :  innumerable  fortunes  being  made — in 
anticipation — by  the  purchase  of  lots  in  all  sorts  of 
imaginary  cities,  during  the  four  or  five  years  preceding 
the  memorable  crisis  and  crash  of  1837.  It  was  during 

*  In  this  connection,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  own  state 
ment  of  his  early  education,  previously  given  in  Chapter  II.,  page  52. 


MR.    LINCOLN   AS   A   POLITICIAN.  75 

the  year  previous  to  that  consummation,  that  this  busi 
ness  had  reached  its  height  in  Illinois,  and  for  a  while 
afforded  him  much  profitable  employment.  But,  when 
the  bubble  burst,  the  young  surveyor  found  "his  occu 
pation  gone,"  and  his  instruments  were  shortly  after 
sacrificed  at  auction.  Thenceforth  he  confined  himself 
exclusively  to  the  profession  of  the  law. 

In  1834,  his  political  life  commenced  in  earnest,  by 
his  election  to  the  State  Legislature,  of  which  he  was, 
with  one  exception,  the  youngest  member. 

6  He  had  not  yet  acquired  position  as  a  lawyer,  or 
even  been  admitted  to  the  bar— and  had  his  reputation 
to  make,  no  less  as  a  politician  and  orator.     At  this 
time  he  was  very  plain  in  his  costume,  as  well  as  rather 
uncourtly  in  his  address  and  general  appearance.     His 
clothing  was  of  homely  Kentucky  jean,   and  the  first 
impression  made  by  his  tall  lank  figure  upon  those  who 
saw  him,  was  not  specially  prepossessing.     He  had  not 
outgrown  his  hard  backwoods  experience,  and  showed 
no  inclination  to  disguise  or  to  cast  behind  him,  the 
honest  and  manly,  though  unpolished  characteristics  of 
his  earlier  days.     Never  was  a  man  further  removed 
from  all  snobbish  affectation.     As  little  was  there,  also, 
of  the  demagogue  art  of  assuming  an  uncouthness  or 
rusticity  of  manner  and  outward  habit,  with  the  mis 
taken  notion  of  thus  securing  particular  favor  as  "one 
of  the  masses."     He  chose  to  appear  then,  as  he  has  at 
all  times  since,  precisely  what  he  was.    His  deportment 
was  unassuming,  though  without  any  awkwardness  of 
reserve. 

"During  this,  his  first  session  in  the  Legislature,  he  was 
taking  lessons,  as  became  his  youth  and  inexperience, 


76  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

and  preparing  himself  for  the  future  by  close  observation 
and  attention  to  business,  rather  than  by  a  prominent 
participation  in  debate.  He  seldom  or  never  took  the 
floor  to  speak,  although  before  the  close  of  this  and  the 
succeeding  special  session  of  the  same  Legislature,  he 
had  shown,  as  previously  in  every  other  capacity  in 
which  he  was  engaged,  qualities  that  clearly  pointed  to 
him  as  fitted  to  act  a  leading  part." 

In  the  organization  of  the  Legislature,  Lincoln  was 
assigned  the  second  place  on  the  Committee  on  Public 
Accounts  and  Expenditures,  an  honor  especially  flatter 
ing,  as  the  power  was  entirely  in  the  hands-  of  the  Dem 
ocrats.  It  was  during  this  session  that  Lincoln  first 
became  acquainted  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  had 
then  recently  come  from  his  native  State,  Vermont,  and 
commencing  as  a  school-teacher,  had  devoted  his  time 
to  the  study  of  law  and  local  politics,  until,  in  less  than 
a  year  from  his  entrance  into  Illinois,  he  had,  by  an 
adroit  movement,  secured  the  position  of  State's  attor 
ney  for  the  first  judicial  district.  Young  Douglas,  at 
this  time,  was  as  thin  in  flesh  as  he  was  short  in 
stature,  and,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  once  remarked,  "was 
physically  the  least  man  he  ever  saw."  Little  did  the 
two  men  then  realize  what  a  position  they  were,  ere 
long,  to  assume  toward  one  another  and  toward  their 
country.  Douglas,  like  Lincoln,  wras  the  sole  architect 
of  his  own  fortunes ;  the  good  State  of  Illinois  cradled 
them  both  in  their  humble  estate,  and  gave  them,  as 
her  own,  to  a  career  of  political  glory  now  become  his 
torical. 

In  1836,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  for  a  second  term 
as  one  of  the  seven  representatives  from  Sangamon 


MR.    LINCOLN   AS   A   POLITICIAN.  77 

county,  and  was  again  assigned  a  place  upon  the  Com 
mittee  of  Finances.  At  the  two  sessions  of  this  Legis 
lature,  in  1836  and  '37,  he  came  forward  more  promi 
nently  in  debate,  gradually  became  recognized  as  the 
leading  man  on  the  Whig  side,  and,  as  he  had  been 
from  the  outset  of  his  political  career,  the  staunch  and 
able  advocate  of  a  healthy,  but  judiciously-guarded 
policy  of  internal  improvements.  He  held  it  to  be  the 
duty  of  government  to  extend  its  fostering  aid,  in  every 
constitutional  way,  and  to  a  reasonable  extent,  to  what 
ever  enterprise  of  public  utility  required  such  assistance, 
in  order  to  the  fullest  development  of  the  natural  re 
sources,  and  to  the  most  rapid  healthful  growth  of  the 
State. 

During  this  part  of  his  career  as  a  politician,  it  is 
interesting  to  notice  the  care  which  he  took,  even  when 
a  young  man,  to  avoid  identifying  himself  with  the 
theoretical  Abolitionists  of  the  day,  and  to  place  him 
self  on  the  record  as  a  firm  lover  of  liberty  for  all  men 
when  time  and  circumstances  should  favor  emanci 
pation.. 

During  the  spring  of  1837,  resolutions  of  a  pro- 
slavery  character  had  been  adopted  by  a  Democratic 
majority  of  the  Illinois  Legislature,  and  the  attempt,  of 
course,  was  made  to  affix  the  stigma  of  Abolitionists  to 
all  those  who  refused  assent  to  these  extreme  views. 
At  that  time,  the  public  sentiment  of  the  north  was  not 
aroused  on  the  subject,  as  it  became  a  few  years  later, 
in  consequence  of  pro-slavery  aggressions.  Yet  Mr. 
Lincoln  refused  to  vote  for  these  resolutions,  and  in 
order  to  extricate  himself  from  the  false  position  in 
which  the  opposition  sought  to  place  him,  he  and  Daniel 


78  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Stone,  his  Colleague  from  Sangamon  county,  availed 
themselves  of  their  constitutional  privilege  to  give  their 
views  on  the  subject  in  a  clear  and  manly  protest. 

MARCH  3d,  1837. — The  folio  wing  protest  was  pre 
sented  to  the  House,  which  was  read  and  ordered  to  be 
spread  on  the  journals,  to  wit : 

"Besolutions  upon  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery  having 
passed  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly,  at  its  present 
session,  the  undersigned  hereby  protest  against  the  passage 
of  the  same. 

"  They  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  founded  on 
both  injustice  and  bad  policy ;  but  that  the  promulgation  of 
abolition  doctrines  tends  rather  to  increase  than  abate  its  evils. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
no  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  interfere  with  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery  in  the  different  States. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia ;  but  that  the  power  ought  not  to  be  ex 
ercised,  unless  at  the  request  of  the  people  of  said  District. 

"  The  difference  between  these  opinions  and  those  contained 
in  the  said  resolutions,  is  their  reason  for  entering  this  protest. 
"(Signed)  "DAN  STONE, 

"A.  LINCOLN, 
11  Representatives  from  the  County  of  Sangamon" 

In  1838,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  for  the  third  time  elected 
a  Representative  in  the  Legislature,  for  the  two  years 
ensuing ;  and  so  well  recognized  was  his  position  in  his 
party,  that  by  general  consent  he  received  the  Whig 
vote  for  the  speakership — which  he  failed  to  get  only 
after  a  very  close  contest,  his  opponent  having  a  ma- 


MR.  LINCOLN   AS   A   POLITICIAN.  79 

jority  of  one  over  all  others,  two  Whigs  (including 
Mr.  Lincoln)  and  two  Democrats  having  scattered  their 
votes.  Aside  from  financial  questions,  there  were  but 
few  matters  of  any  general  interest  before  the  Legisla 
ture.  This  session  of  1838-9  was  the  last  held  at 
Yandalia.  A  special  session  in  1839  inaugurated  the 
new  state-house  at  Springfield.  The  great  contest  of 
1840  was  already  casting  its  shadow  before,  and  began 
chiefly  to  engross  the  attention  of  persons  in  political 
life.  Whig  candidates  for  electors  were  nominated  in 
November  of  this  year,  and  discussions  commenced  in 
earnest.  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  deemed  one  of  the 
strongest  champions  of  the  cause  before  the  people,  was 
repeatedly  called  on  to  encounter  the  foremost  advocates 
of  the  Democratic  part}* — as  no  man  in  Illinois,  it  was 
now  manifest,  could  do  more  successfully. 

Again,  for  the  fourth  time  in  succession,  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  elected  to  the  Legislature  in  1840 — the  last  election 
to  that  position  which  he  would  consent  to  accept  from 
his  strongly-attached  constituents  of  Sangamon  county. 

There  was  but  one  session  during  the  two  years  for 
which  this  Legislature  was  chosen.  "Mr.  Lincoln,  as  in 
the  last,  was  the  acknowledged  Whig  leader,  and  the 
candidate  of  his  party  for  speaker.  First  elected  at 
twenty-five,  he  had  continued  in  office  without  inter 
ruption  so  long  as  his  inclination  allowed,  and  until,  by 
his  uniform  courtesy  and  kindness  of  manners,  his 
marked  ability,  and  his  straight-forward  integrity,  he 
had  won  an  enviable  repute  throughout  the  State,  and 
was  virtually,  when  but  a  little  past  thirty,  placed  at 
the  head  of  his  party  in  Illinois. 

"  Begun  in  comparative  obscurity,  and  without  any 


80  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

adventitious  aids  in  its  progress,  this  period  of  his  life, 
at  its  termination,  had  brought  him  to  a  position  where 
he  was  secure  in  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and  pre 
pared,  in  due  time,  to  enter  upon  a  more  enlarged  and 
brilliant  career  as  a  national  statesman.    His  fame  as  a 
close  and  convincing  debater  was  established.     His  na 
tive  talent  as  an  orator  had  at  once  been  demonstrated 
and  disciplined.     His  zeal  and  earnestness  in  behalf  of 
a  party  whose  principles  he  believed  to  be  right,  had 
rallied   strong  troops   of  political  friends   about   him, 
while  his  unfeigned  modesty  and  his  unpretending  and 
simple   bearing,   in   marked  contrast   with  that  of  so 
many  imperious  leaders,  had  won  him  general  and  last 
ing  esteem.     He  preferred  no  claim  as  a  partizan,  and 
showed  no  overweening  anxiety  to  advance  himself,  but 
was  always  a  disinterested  and  generous  co-worker  with 
his  associates,  only  ready  to  accept  the  post  of  honor 
and  of  responsibility,  when    it  was  clearly  their  will 
and  satisfactory  to  the  people  whose  interests  were  in 
volved.     At  the  close  of  this  period,  with  scarcely  any 
consciousness  of  the  fact  himself,   and  with  no  noisy 
demonstrations  or  flashy  ostentation  in  his  behalf  from 
his  friends,  he  was  really  one  of  the  foremost  political 
men -in  the  State.     A  keen  observer  might  even  then 
have  predicted  a  great  future  for  the  'Sangamon  chief/ 
as  people  have  been  wont  to  call  him ;  and  only  such 
an  observer,  perhaps,  would  then  have  adequately  esti 
mated  his  real  power  as  a  natural  orator,  a  sagacious 
statesman,  and  a  gallant  TRIBUNE  OF  THE  PEOPLE." 

During  the  period  of  his  service  in  the  Legislature, 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  steadily  engaged  in  mastering  the 
profession  of  law.  It  was  true,  that  he  was  compelled 


MR.   LINCOLN  AS  A  POLITICIAN.  81 

to  prosecute  his  studies,  somewhat  at  disadvantage,  both 
from  the  necessity  of  supporting  himself  meanwhile  by 
his  own  labor,  and  the  time  and  attention  which  his 
position  obliged  him  to  give  to  politics.  But  nothing 
could  prevent  the  consummation  of  his  purpose,  and 
having  completed  the  preliminary  studies,  he  was  ad 
mitted  to  practice  in  1836.  He  was  what  is  called  in 
the  west  "a  rising  man" — and  he  commenced  practice 
with  a  reputation  which  speedily  brought  him  plenty  of 
business,  and  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of  his  pro 
fession.  He  displayed  remarkable  ability  as  an  advo 
cate  in  jury  trials,  and  a  ready  perception  and  sound 
judgment  of  the  turning  legal  points  of  a  case.  Many 
of  his  law  arguments  were  master  pieces  of  logical  reas 
oning.  His  forensic  efforts  all  bore  the  stamp  of  mascu 
line  common  sense ;  and  he  had  a  natural,  easy  mode 
of  illustration,  that  made  the  most  abstruse  subjects 
appear  plain.  Indeed  clear,  practical  sense,  and  skill  in 
homely  or  humorous  illustration,  were  the  especially 
noticeable  traits  in  his  arguments.  The  graces  of  a 
polished  rhetoric  he  certainly  had  not,  nor  did  he  aim 
to  acquire  them.  His  style  of  expression  and  the  cast 
of  his  thought  were  his  own,  having  all  the  native  force 
of  a  genuine  originality. 

The  following  incident  of  his  law  practice,  of  which 
the  narration  is  believed  to  be  substantially  accurate,  is 
from  the  pen  of  one  who  professes  to  write  from  per 
sonal  knowlege.  It  is  given  in  this  connection,  as  at 
once  illustrating  the  earlier  struggles  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
acquiring  his  profession,  the  character  of  his  forensic 
efforts,  and  the  generous  gratitude  and  disinterestedness 
of  his  nature : 
6 


82  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

"Having  chosen  the  law  as  his  future  calling,  he  devoted 
himself  assiduously  to  its  mastery,  contending  at  every  step 
with  adverse  fortune.     During  this  period  of  study,  he  for  some 
time  found  a  home  under  the  hospitable   roof  of  one  Arm 
strong,  a  farmer,  who  lived  in  a  log  house  some  eight  miles 
from  ° the   village   of  Petersburg,   in   Menard   county.     Here, 
young  Lincoln  would  master  his  lessons  by  the  firelight  of  the 
cabin°  and  then  walk  to  town  for  the  purpose  of  recitation. 
This  man  Armstrong  was  himself  poor,  but  he  saw  the  genius 
struggling  in  the  young  student,  and  opened  to  him  his  rude 
home°  and  bid  him  welcome  to  his  coarse  fare.     How  Lincoln 
graduated  with  promise— how  he  has  more  than  fulfilled  that 
promise— how  honorably  he  acquitted   himself,   alike  on  the 
battle-field,  in  defending  our  border  settlements   against   the 
ravages  of  savage  foes,  and  in  the  halls  of  our  national  Legis 
lature,  are   matters  of  history,  and   need    no  repetition  here. 
But  one  little  incident,  of  a  more  private  nature,  standing  as  it 
does  as  a  sort  of  sequel  to  some  things  already  alluded  to,  I 
deem  worthy  of  record. 

11  Some  few  years  since,  the  oldest  son  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  old 
friend  Armstrong,  the  chief  support  of  his  widowed  mother— 
the  good  old  man  having  some  time  previously  passed  from 
earth— was  arrested  on  the  charge  of  murder.     A  young  man 
had  been  killed  during  a  riotous  melee,  in  the  night-time,  at  a 
camp-meeting,  and  one  of  his  associates  stated  that  the  death- 
wound  was  inflicted   by  young   Armstrong.     A  preliminary 
examination  was  gone  into,  at  which  the  accuser  testified  so 
'    positively,  that   there   seemed  no  doubt  of  the  guilt  of  the 
prisoner,  and  therefore  he  was  held  for  trial.     As  is  too  often 
the  case,  the  bloody  act  caused  an  undue  degree  of  excitement 
in  the  public  mind.     Every  improper  incident  in  the  life  of  the 
prisoner — each  act  which  bore  the  least  semblance  of  rowdyism 

each   schoolboy    quarrel— was    suddenly    remembered    and 

magnified,  until  they  pictured  a  most  horrible  hue.     As  these 
rumors  spread  abroad  they  were  received  as  gospel  truth,  and 


MR.  LINCOLN   AS   A   POLITICIAN.  83 

a  feverish  desire  for  vengeance  seized  upon  the  infatuated 
populace,  whilst  only  prison  bars  prevented  a  horrible  death 
at  the  hands  of  a  mob.  The  events  were  heralded  in  the 
county  papers,  painted  in  highest  colors,  accompanied  by  re 
joicing  over  the  certainty  of  punishment  being  meted  out  to 
the  guilty  party.  The  prisoner,  overwhelmed  by  the  circum 
stances  under  which  he  found  himself  placed,  fell  into  a  melan 
choly  condition  bordering  on  despair,  and  the  widowed 
mother,  looking  through  her  tears,  saw  no  cause  for  hope  from 
earthly  aid. 

"At  this  juncture,  the  widow  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Lincoln,  volunteering  his  services  in  an  effort  to  save  the 
youth  from  the  impending  stroke.  Gladly  was  his  -aid  ac 
cepted,  although  it  seemed  impossible  for  even  his  sagacity  to 
prevail  in  such  a  desperate  case ;  but  the  heart  of  the  attorney 
was  in  his  work,  and  he  set  about  it  with  a  will  that  knew  no 
such  word  as  fail.  Feeling  that  the  poisoned  condition  of  the 
public  mind  was  such  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  impanel 
ling  an  impartial  jury  in  the  court  having  jurisdiction,  he  pro 
cured  a  change  of  venue  and  a  postponement  of  the  trial.  %  He 
then  went  studiously  to  work  unravelling  the  history  of  the 
case,  and  satisfied  himself  that  his  client  was  the  victim  of 
malice,  and  that  the  statements  of  the  accuser  were  a  tissue  of 
falsehoods. 

"  When  the  trial  was  called  on,  the  prisoner,  pale  and 
emaciated,  with  hopelessness  written  on  every  feature,  and 
accompanied  by  his  half-hoping,  half-despairing  mother — 
whose  only  hope  was  in  a  mother's  belief  of  her  son's  inno 
cence,  in  the  justice  of  the  God  she  worshipped,  and  in  the 
noble  counsel,  who,  without  hope  of  fee  or  reward  upon  earth, 
had  undertaken  the  cause — took  his  seat  in  the  prisoners'  box, 
and  with  a  '  stony  firmness'  listened  to  the  reading  of  the  in 
dictment.  Lincoln  sat  quietlyv  by,  whilst  the  large  auditory 
looked  on  him  as  though  wondering  what  he  could  say  in 
defence  of  one  whose  guilt  they  regarded  as  certain.  The  ex- 


84  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

amination  of  the  witnesses  for  the  State  was  begun,  and  a  well- 
arranged  mass  of  evidence,  circumstantial  and  positive,  was 
introduced,  which  seemed  to  impale  the  prisoner  beyond  the 
possibity  of  extrication.  The  counsel  for  the  defence  pro 
pounded  but  few  questions,  and  those  of  a  character  which 
excited  no  uneasiness  on  the  part  of  the  prosecutor— merely, 
in  most  cases,  requiring  the  main  witnesses  to  be  definite  as  to 
the  time  and  place.  When  the  evidence  of  the  prosecution 
was  ended,  Lincoln  introduced  a  few  witnesses  to  remove  some 
erroneous  impressions  in  regard  to  the  previous  character  of 
his  client,  who,  though  somewhat  rowdyish,  had  never  been 
known  to  commit  a  vicious  act;  and  to  show  that  a  greater 
degree  of  ill-feeling  existed  between  the  accuser  and  the 
accused,  than  the  accuser  and  the  deceased. 

"  The  prosecutor  felt  that  the  case  was  a  clear  one,  and  his 
opening  speech  was  brief  and  formal.  Lincoln  arose,  while  a 
deathly  silence  pervaded  the  vast  audience,  and  in  a  clear  and 
moderate  tone  began  his  argument.  Slowly  and  carefully  he 
reviewed  the  testimony,  pointing  out  the  hitherto  unobserved 
discrepancies  in  the  statements  of  the  principal  witness.  That 
which  had  seemed  plain  and  plausible  he  made  to  appear 
crooked  as  a  serpent's  path.  The  witness  had  stated  that  the 
affair  took  place  at  a  certain  hour  in  the  evening,  and  that,  by 
the  aid  of  the  brightly  shining  moon,  he  saw  the  prisoner  inflict 
the  death-blow  with  a  slung-shot.  Mr.  Lincoln  showed  that  at 
the  hour  referred  to  the  moon  had  not  yet  appeared  above  the 
horizon,  and  consequently  the  whole  tale  was  a  fabrication. 

"An  almost  instantaneous  change  seemed  to  have  been 
wrought  in  the  minds  of  his  auditors,  and  the  verdict  of  '  not 
guilty'  was  at  the  end  of  every  tongue.  But  the  advocate  was 
not  content  with  this  intellectual  achievement.  His  whole 
being  had  for  months  been  bound  up  in  this  work  of  gratitude 
and  mercy,  and  as  the  lava  of  the  overcharged  crater  bursts 
from  its  imprisonment,  so  great  thoughts  and  burning  words 
leaped  forth  from  the  soul  of  the  eloquent  Lincoln.  He  drew 


MR.  LINCOLN   AS   A   POLITICIAN.  85 

a  picture  of  the  perjurer  so  horrid  and  ghastly,  that  the  accuser 
could  sit  under  it  no  longer,  but  reeled  aud  staggered  from  the 
court-room,  whilst  the  audience  fancied  they  could  see  the 
brand  upon  his  brow.  Then  in  words  of  thrilling  pathos 
Lincoln  appealed  to  the  jurors  as  fathers  of  some  who  might 
become  fatherless,  and  as  husbands  of  wives  who  might  be 
widowed,  to  yield  to  no  previous  impressions,  no  ill-founded 
prejudice,  but  to  do  his  client  justice ;  and  as  he  alluded  to  the 
debt  of  gratitude  which  he  owed  the  boy's  sire,  tears  were  seen 
to  fall  from  many  eyes  unused  to  weep. 

"It  was  near  night  when  he  concluded,  by  saying  that  if  jus 
tice  was  done — as  he  believed  it  would  be — before  the  sun 
should  set,  it  would  shine  upon  his  client  a  free  man.  The  jury 
retired,  and  the  court  adjourned  for  the  day.  Half  an  hour 
had  not  elapsed,  when,  as  the  officers  of  the  court  and  the 
volunteer  attorney  sat  at  the  tea-table  of  their  hotel,  a  mes 
senger  announced  that  the  jury  had  returned  to  their  seats. 
All  repaired  immediately  to  the  court-house,  and  whilst  the 
prisoner  was  being  brought  from  the  jail,  the  court-room  was 
filled  to  overflowing  with  citizens  from  the  town.  When  the 
prisoner  and  his  mother  entered,  silence  reigned  as  completely 
as  though  the  house  were  empty.  The  foreman  of  the  jury,  in 
answer  to  the  usual  inquiry  from  the  court,  delivered  the 
verdict  of  '  "Not  Guilty  I'  The  widow  dropped  into  the  arms  of 
her  son,  who  lifted  her  up  and  told  her  to  look  upon  him  as 
before,  free  and  innocent.  Then,  with  the  words,  '  Where  is 
Mr.  Lincoln  ?'  he  rushed  across  the  room  and  grasped  the  hand 
of  his  deliverer,  whilst  his  heart  was  too  full  for  utterance. 
Lincoln  turned  his  eyes  towards  the  west,  where  the  sun  still 
lingered  in  view,  and  then,  turning  to  the  youth,  said,  'It  is 
not  yet  sundown  and  you  are  free.7  I  confess  that  my  cheeks 
were  not  wholly  unwet  by  tears,  and  I  turned  from  the 
affecting  scene.  As  I  cast  a  glance  behind,  I  saw  Abraham 
Lincoln  obeying  the  Divine  injunction  by  comforting  the 
widowed  and  fatherless." 


gQ  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Several  of  his  associates  in  practice  at  the  Springfield 
bar,  were  remarkable  men.  Says  a  writer,  familiar 
with  the  persons  and  incidents  of  that  gathering  of 
great  and  peculiar  men  who  made  the  Illinois  capital 
the  arena  of  their  combats : 

"  It  would  be  hard  to  find  in  any  backwoods  town,  at  the 
period  of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  a  coterie  of  equal  ability 
and  equal  possibilities  with  those  who  plead,  and  wrangled,  and 
electioneered  together  in  Springfield.     Logan,  one  of  the  finest 
examples  of  the  purely  legal  mind  that  the  west  has  ^  ever 
produced;  M'Dougal,  who  afterward  sought  El  Dorado  ;  Bissell, 
and  Shields,  and  B.aker,  brothers  in  arms  and  in  council,  the 
flower  of  the  western  chivalry,  and  the  brightest  examples  of 
western  oratory;    Trumbull  then,  as  now,  with  a  mind  pre 
eminently  cool,  crystalline,   sagacious ;  Douglas,  heart  of  oak 
and  brain  of  fire,  of  energy  and  undaunted  courage  unparal 
leled,  ambition  insatiate  and   aspiration  unsleeping  ;   Lincoln 
then,  as  afterward,  thoughtful,  and  honest,  and  brave,  conscious 
of  great  capabilities,  and  quietly  sure  of  the  future,  before  all 
his  peers  in  a  broad  humanity,  and  in  that  prophetic  life  of 
spirit  that  saw  the  triumph  of  principles  then  dimly  discovered 
in  the  contest  that  was  to  come." 

Truly  a  singular  gathering  of  great  souls — each  one 
of  whom  was  destined  to  occupy  prominent  positions  in 
their  country's  history. 

His  interest  in  the  exciting  and  important  political 
events  of  the  day — his  steadily-increasing  conception  of 
their  importance  not  only  to  his  own  community,  but  to 
the  country — ere  long  drew  him  into  the  vortex  of 
politics.  During  the  Presidential  canvass  of  1844, 
he  "  stumped"  the  State  of  Illinois,  as  well  as  a  large 
portion  of  Indiana,  for  Henry  Clay,  with  unwearying 
enthusiasm. 


MR.    LINCOLN   AS  A  POLITICIAN.  87 

In  this  election,  the  tariff  question  being  the  main 
subject  at  issue — Mr.  Lincoln's  name  headed  the  Whig 
electoral  ticket,  as  opposed  to  John  Calhoun's  on  the 
Democratic  side,  the  latter  being  then  regarded  as  the 
ablest  debater  of  his  party  in  the  State.  They  "stumped" 
the  State  together,  usually  making  speeches,  on  alter 
nate  days  at  each  place,  to  large  audiences.  In  these 
political  "  sparring  matches,"  Mr.  Lincoln  manifested  a 
surprising  acquaintance  with  the  principles,  workings, 
and  results  of  the  protective  system. 

The  canvass  proved  how  thoroughly  he  had  studied 
the  question  in  all  its  bearings — how  exhaustively  he 
had  read  history  and  political  economy.  He  demon 
strated  not  only  his  own  native  strength  as  a  debater, 
but  his  accomplishments  as  a  well-read  student  and 
statesman.  "  He  spoke  with  that  directness  and  pre 
cision  which  ever  are  most  forcible  in  popular  address. 
His  manner  was  familiar,  as  if  talking  to  a  large  circle 
of  friends — a  feature  of  his  oratory  which  became  one 
of  his  public  characteristics.  This  very  familiarity  of 
his  discourse,  the  homeliness  of  his  illustrations,  the 
quiet  good  humor  of  his  temper,  and  the  seemingly 
inexhaustible  fund  of  anecdote  and  story  ever  ready  at 
his  command — all  served  to  divest  his  speeches  of  the 
acknowledged  constituents  of  the  oration,  and  to  invest 
them  with  something  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
harangue ;  yet  his  simple  words  were  weighty  with  an 
eloquence  which  swayed  not  only  the  hearts,  but  the 
judgments  of  his  hearers,  and  few  men  ever  left  an 
audience  under  greater  weight  of  obligation  for  truths 
spoken  and  principles  enunciated.  He  came  out  of  that 


88  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

first  canvass  the  conceded  champion*  of  the  Whig  party 
and  policy  in  the  State." 

The  disastrous  result  of  that  canvass,  to  the  success 
of  Mr.  Clay,  was  felt  by  Lincoln  even  more  keenly  than 
if  it  had  been  a  mere  personal  reverse. 
/  Twc  years  later,  in  1846,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  induced 
to  accept  the  Whig  nomination  for  Congress  in  the 
Sangamon  district.  The  annexation  of  Texas  had,  in 
the  meantime,  been  consummated,  and  the  Mexican  war 
was  in  progress.  The  Whig  tariff  of  1842  had  just 
been  repealed. 

The  Springfield  district  had  given  Mr.  Clay  a  majority 
of  nine  hundred  and  fourteen  in  1844,  on  the  most 
thorough  canvass.  It  gave  Mr.  Lincoln  a  majority  of 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eleven,  which  was 
entirely  unprecedented,  and  has  been  unequaled  by  that 
given  there  for  any  opposition  candidate,  for  any  office 
since.  The  nearest  approach  was  in  1848,  when 
General  Taylor,  on  a  much  fuller  vote  than  that  of 
1846,  and  receiving  the  votes  of  numerous  returned 
Mexican  volunteers,  of  Democratic  faith,  and  who  had 
served  under  him  in  Mexico,  obtained  a  majority  of 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  one.  In  the  same  year 
(1848)  Mr.  Logan,  the  popular  Whig  candidate,  was 
beaten  by  Col.  Thomas  L.  Harris,  Democrat,  by  one 
hundred  and  six  majority.  There  was  110  good  reason 

*  During  this  campaign,  at  a  Convention  held  at  Vandalia,  the  old 
capital  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  an  old  man  carried  a  banner  with  this 
device : 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  PRESIDENT  IN  1860." 

This  is  a  well  attested  fact,  but  what  was  the  prophet's  name  we  have 
not  been  able  to  learn. 


MR.    LINCOLN  AS  A  POLITICIAN.  89 

to  doubt,  in  advance,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  been 
elected  by  a  handsome  majority,  had  he  consented  to 
run  for  another  term,  nor  has  it  been  questionable,  since 
the  result  became  known,  that  the  strong  personal  popu 
larity  of  Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  saved  the  district.  It 
was  redeemed  by  Richard  Yates  in  1850,  who  carried 
his  election  by  less  than  half  the  majority  (seven 
hundred  and  fifty-four)  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  received 
in  1846.  Under  all  the  circumstances,  therefore,  the 
vote  for  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  remarkable  one,  showing 
that  he  possessed  a  rare  degree  of  strength  with  the 
people.  His  earnest  sincerity  of  manner  always  strongly 
impressed  those  whom  he  addressed.  They  knew  him 
to  be  a  man  of  strong  moral  convictions,  and  there  was 
a  universal  confidence  in  his  personal  integrity,  such  as 
is  rarely  extended  to  men  so  prominent  in  political  life. 
The  longer  he  was  tried  as  a  public  servant,  the  more  he 
secured  the  affection  of  his  constituents.  A  popularity 
thus  thoroughly  grounded,  was  not  to  be  destroyed  by 
the  breezes  of  momentary  passion  or  prejudice,  or  mate 
rially  affected  by  any  idle  fickleness  of  the  populace. 
In  his  case  it  grew  and  intensified  to  the  very  hour 
of  his  sudden  death. 

On  becoming  well  established  in  his  profession,  Mr. 
Lincoln  fixed  his  permanent  residence  at  Springfield, 
the  county  seat  of  Sangamon,  and  the  capital  of  the 
State.  This  was  on  the  15th  of  April,  1837,  and 
five  years  later,  November  4th,  1842,  he  was  married  to 
Mary,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Robert  S.  Todd,  of  Lexing 
ton,  Kentucky.  In  the  selection  of  his  wife,  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  as  fortunate  as  in  the  other  events  of  his 
life;  her  accomplished  manners  and  social  tastes  ren- 


90  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

dered  her  a  general  favorite,  while  she  was  as  well 
calculated  to  secure  the  happiness  and  comfort  of  his 
modest  home  at  Springfield,  as,  subsequently,  to  preside 
with  graceful  ease,  over  the  hospitalities  of  the  "  White 
House"  at  Washington. 

It  may  be  proper  to  add  here,  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  is  a 
Presbyterian  by  education  and  profession,  and  that  her 
husband,  though  not  a  member,  was  a  liberal  supporter 
of  the  church  to  which  she  belongs.  It  should  further 
be  stated  that  the  Sunday-school,  and  other  benevolent 
enterprises  associated  with  these  church  relations,  always 
found  in  him  a  constant  friend. 

In  this  quiet  domestic  happiness,  and  in  the  active 
practice  of  his  profession,  with  its  round  of  ordinary 
duties,  and  with  its  exceptional  cases  of  a  more  general 
public  interest,  Mr.  Lincoln  disappeared  for  the  time 
from  political  life.  Its  peculiar  excitements,  indeed, 
were  not  foreign  to  his  nature,  nor  could  the  people,  and 
the  party  of  which  he  was  so  commanding  a  leader, 
long  consent  to  his  retirement.  Yet  such  was  his 
prudent  purpose — now  especially,  with  a  family  to  care 
for;*  and  to  this  he  adhered,  with  only  occasional 
exceptions,  until,  four  years  after  his  marriage,  he  was 
elected  to  Congress. 

*  The  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln,  were  Eobert  Lincoln, 
born  in  1843,  and  now  a  captain  on  General  Grant's  staff;  a  second  son, 
born  in  1846,  and  William,  born  in  1850,  both  of  whom  are  dead ;  and 
Thaddeus,  born  in  1853,  who  stands  beside  his  illustrious  father  in  the 
last  photograph  taken  of  the  President. 


IN   CONGRESS  AND   "ON   THE   STUMP."  91 


CHAPTEE  Y. 

MR.    LINCOLN   IN   CONGRESS   AND    "  ON   THE    STUMP." 

Is  sent  to  Congress  in  1847. — His  record  while  there. — Resumes  the 
practice  of  Law. — Enters  warmly  into  the  campaign  of  1854. — Measures 
swords  with  Douglas. — Engages  in  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1858. — 
Is  nominated  for  United  States  Senator. — The  celebrated  debates 
between  Lincoln  and  Douglas. — His  tribute  to  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence. — Pen-portraits  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  during  his  campaign. — Story, 
relating  to  the  Harper's  Ferry  Invasion. — Story  of  his  duel  with 
Hardin. — Goes  to  Ohio,  to  aid  in  the  canvass  there. — Extracts  from  his 
speeches. — Gives  a  helping  hand  to  the  canvass  in  the  Eastern  States. — 
His  great  Cooper  Institute  Speech. — Touching  Scene  in  New  York. 

A  MAN  of  family,  a  recognized  leader  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Whig  party,  a  successful  lawyer,  and  one  whose 
popularity  was  daily  increasing,  it  is  not  a  matter  of 
wonder  that,  in  1848,  Mr.  Lincoln's  fellow-citizens 
should  have  deemed  him  an  appropriate  man  to  repre 
sent  them  in  the  national  Congress. 

Accordingly,  he  was  returned  for  the  central  district 
of  Illinois,  in  the  fall  of  1846,  and  took  his  seat  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  at  Washington,  on  the  6th 
day  of  December,  1847,  the  opening  of  the  thirtieth 
Congress. 

He  was  the  only  representative  from  his  State  who 
had  been  elected  under  the  Whig  standard — his  six 
colleagues  being  all  Democrats. 

Mr.  Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts,  was  elected  Speaker 
of  the  House.  This  House  was  replete  with  the  best 


92  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

talent  of  the  country;  and  it  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
most  agitated  and  agitating  sessions  ever  convened  in 
Washington.  Enrolled  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  Whigs, 
were  such  names  as  Collamer,  Tallmage,  Ingersoll, 
Botts,  Clingman,  Stephens,  Toombs,  and  Thompson; 
while,  opposed  to  him  in  politics,  were  others,  not  less 
distinguished,  of  whom  we  may  mention  Wilmot, 
Bocock,  Khett,  Linn  Boyd,  and  Andrew  Johnson — 
the  latter  afterward  his  associate  and  coadjutor  in  the 
great  work  of  restoring  the  Union.  Such  conspicuous 
lights  as  Webster,  Calhoun,  Dayton,  Davis,  Dix,  Dick 
inson,  Hale,  Bell,  Crittenden,  and  Corwin,  constituted  a 
senatorial  galaxy  which  seldom  has  been  outshone. 
Mr.  Lincoln  entered  into  his  new  duties  with  character 
istic  energy,  voting  on  every  question,  and  speaking 
wherever  there  seemed  to  be  necessity,  with  a  directness 
which  gave  abundant  evidence  that  he  fully  compre 
hended  the  issues  of  the  day. 

His  Congressional  record  throughout,  was  that  of  a 
Whig  of  those  days,  his  votes  on  all  leading  national 
subjects,  being  invariably  what  those  of  Clay,  Webster 
or  Corwin  would  have  been,  had  they  occupied  his 
place. 

Mr.  Giddings  having  presented  a  memorial  (December 
21st,  1847)  from  certain  citizens  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  asking  for  the  repeal  of  all  laws  upholding 
the  slave  trade  in  the  District,  a  motion  was  made  to 
lay  it  on  the  table,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  voted  in  the 
negative. 

Although  he  went  with  the  majority  of  the  Whig 
party  in  opposing  the  declaration  of  war  with  Mexico, 
he  invariably  supported,  with  his  vote,  any  bill  or  reso- 


IN   CONGRESS  AND    "ON   THE   STUMP."  93 

lution  having  for  its  object  the  sustenance  of  the  health, 
comfort  and  honor  of  our  soldiers  engaged  in  the  war. 
On  the  22d  of  December  he  introduced,  with  one  of  his 
characteristically  humorous  and  logical  speeches  in  their 
favor,  a  series  of  resolutions,  keenly  criticising  the 
motives  which  had  superinduced  the  war.  In  later 
years,  it  was  charged  against  Mr.  Lincoln  by  his  political 
enemies,  that  he  lacked  genuine  patriotism,  inasmuch 
as  he  had  voted  against  the  Mexican  war.  This  charge 
was  sharply  and  clearly  made  by  Judge  Douglas  at  the 
first  of  their  joint  discussions,  in  the  senatorial  contest 
of  1858.  Mr.  Lincoln  replied :  "  I  was  an  old  Whig, 
and  whenever  the  Democratic  party  tried  to  get  me 
to  vote  that  the  war  had  been  righteously  begun  by  the 
President,  I  would  not  do  it.  *  *  *  But,  when  he, 
[Judge  Douglas],  by  a  general  charge  conveys  the  idea 
that  I  withheld  supplies  from  the  soldiers  who  were  • 
lighting  in  the  Mexican  war,  or  did  any  thing  else 
to  hinder  the  soldiers,  he  is,  to  say  the  least,  grossly  and 
altogether  mistaken,  as  a  consultation  of  the  records 
will  prove  to  him."  This  explicit  denial  of  the  falsity 
of  this  charge,  bears  the  impress  of  its  own  veracity. 

He  showed,  in  fact,  on  this  point  the  same  clearness 
and  directness,  the  same  keen  eye  for  the  important 
point  in  a  controversy,  and  the  same  tenacity  in  holding 
it  fast  and  thwarting  his  opponent's  utmost  efforts  to 
obscure  it  and  cover  it  up,  to  draw  attention  to  other 
points  and  raise  false  issues,  which  were  the  marked 
characteristics  of  his  great  controversy  with  Judge 
Douglas  at  a  subsequent  period  of  their  political  history. 

He  saw  that  the  strength  of  the  position  of  the 
administration  before  the  people  in  reference  to  the 


94  THE   LIFE   OF  ABE  AH  AM   LINCOLN". 

beginning  of  the  war,  was  in  the  point,  which  they  lost 
no  opportunity  of  reiterating,  viz.,  that  Mexico  had  shed 
the  blood  of  our  citizens  on  OUT  own  soil.  This  position 
he  believed  to  be  false,  and  he  accordingly  attacked 
it  in  a  resolution  requesting  the  President  to  give 
the  House  information  on  that  point ;  which  President 
Polk  would  have  found  as  difficult  to  dodge  as  Douglas 
found  it  to  dodge  the  questions  which  Mr.  Lincoln  pro 
posed  to  him. 

"  On  the  right  of  petition,"  says  Mr.  Raymond,  "  Mr.  Lincoln, 
of  course,  held  the  right  side,  voting  repeatedly  against  laying 
on  the  table  without  consideration,  petitions  in  favor  of  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  against 
the  slave  trade. 

"  On  the  question  of.  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District,  he 
took  rather  a  prominent  part.  A  Mr.  Gott  had  introduced 
a  resolution  directing  the  committee  for  the  District  to  introduce 
a  bill  abolishing  the  slave  trade  in  the  District.  To  this  Mr. 
i  Lincoln  moved  an  amendment  instructing  them  to  introduce  a 
bill  for  the  abolition,  not  of  the  slave  trade,  but  of  slavery 
within  the  District.  The  bill  which  he  proposed,  prevented 
any  slave  from  ever  being  brought  into  the  District,  except  in 
the  case  of  officers  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
who  might  bring  the  necessary  servants  for  themselves  and 
their  families  while  in  the  District  on  public  business.  It  pre 
vented  any  one  then  resident  within  the  District,  or  thereafter 
born  within  the  District,  from  being  held  in  slavery  without 
the  District.  It  declared  that  all  children  of  slave  mothers 
born  in  the  District  after  January  1,  1850,  should  be  free,  but 
should  be  reasonably  supported  and  educated  by  the  owners  of 
their  mothers,  and  that  any  owner  of  slaves  in  the  District 
might  be  paid  their  value  from  the  treasury,  and  the  slaves 
should  thereupon  be  free ;  and  it  provided,  also,  for  the  sub- 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON   THE   STUMP."  95 

mission  of  the  act  to  the  people  of  the  District  for  their  accept 
ance  or  rejection. 

"  The  question  of  the  Territories  came  up  in  many  ways. 
The  Wilmot  proviso  had  made  its  appearance  in  the  previous 
session,  in  the  August  before ;  but  it  was  repeatedly  before  this 
Congress  also,  when  efforts  were  made  to  apply  it  to  the  terri 
tory  which  we  procured  from  Mexico,  and  to  Oregon.  On  all 
occasions,  when  it  was  before  the  House,  it  was  supported  by 
Mr.  Lincoln ;  and  he  stated,  during  his  contest  with  Judge 
Douglas,  that  he  had  voted  for  it,  '  in  one  way  and  another, 
about  forty  times.'  He  thus  showed  himself,  in  1847,  the  same 
friend  of  freedom  for  the  Territories  which  he  was  afterward 
during  the  heats  of  the  Kansas  struggle. 

"  Another  instance  in  which  the  slavery  question  was  before 
the  House,  was  in  the  famous  Pacheco  case.  The  ground  taken 
by  the  majority,  was  that  slaves  were  regarded  as  property  by 
the  Constitution,  and,  when  taken  for  public  service,  should  be 
paid  for  as  property.  The  principle  involved  in  the  bill  was, 
therefore,  the  same  which  the  slaveholders  have  sought  in  so 
many  ways  to  maintain.  As  they  sought,  afterward,  to  have  it 
established  by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  so,  now,  they 
sought  to  have  it  recognized  by  Congress.  Mr.  Lincoln  opposed 
it  in  Congress  as  heartily  as  he  afterward  opposed  it  when 
it  took  the  more  covert  but  no  less  dangerous  shape  of  a 
judicial  dictum. 

"  On  other  questions  which  came  before  Congress,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
being  a  Whig,  took  the  ground  which  was  held  by  the  great 
body  of  his  party.  He  believed  in  the  right  of  Congress 
to  make  appropriations  for  the  improvement  of  rivers  and 
harbors.  He  was  in  favor  of  giving  the  public  lands,  not 
to  speculators,  but  to  actual  occupants  and  cultivators,  at  as  low 
rates  as  possible ;  he  was  in  favor  of  a  protective  tariff,  and  of 
abolishing  the  franking  privilege." 

In  short,  all  his  acts,  during  this  his  first  Congres 
sional  term,  show  a  purpose  to  do  his  duty  to  his 


96  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

country,  and  to  his  immediate  constituents,  without  fear 
or  favor. 

In  the  Whig  National  Convention  of  1848,  to  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  delegate,  he  earnestly  advocated  the 
nomination  of  General  Zachary  Taylor  as  the  nominee 
for  the  Presidency,  and  during  the  ensuing  canvass, 
he  "  stumped"  the  States  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  for 
his  favorite  candidate.  In  the  latter  State,  the  Democ 
racy,  under  the  leadership  of  Douglas,  made  a  desperate 
and  successful  fight  to  save  their  nominee,  General  Cass. 
In  his  speech  before  the  House,  July  27,  1848,  after 
alluding  to  the  objections  made  against  General  Taylor 
as  a  mere  military  hero,  he  retorted  with  effect,  by  citing 
the  attempt  to  make  out  a  military  record  for  General 
Cass;  and  referring,  in  a  bantering  way,  to  his  own 
services  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  as  already  quoted. 

He  then  "walked  into"  General  Cass,  in  a  mingled 
strain  of  argument,  and  good-natured  sarcasm,  which 
was  exceedingly  effective,  as  will  be  easily  compre 
hended  from  the  following  brief  extracts  : 

AN   OBEDIENT   DEMOCRAT. 

"These  extracts  show  that,  in  1846,  General  Cass  was  for  the 
Proviso  at  once;  that  in  March,  1847,  he  was  still  for  it,  but  not 
just  then;  and  that  in  December,  1847,  he  was  against  it 
altogether.  This  is  a  true  index  to  the  whole  man.  When  the 
question  was  raised  in  1846,  he  was  in  a  blustering  hurry 
to  take  ground  for  it.  He  sought  to  be  in  advance,  and 
to  avoid  the  uninteresting  position  of  a  mere  follower ;  but 
soon  he  began  to  see  glimpses  of  the  great  Democratic  ox-gad 
waving  in  his  face,  and  to  hear  indistinctly,  a  voice  saying, 
'  back,'  '  back,  sir,'  <  back  a  little.'  He  shakes  his  head  and  bats 
his  eyes,  and  blunders  back  to  his  position  of  March,  1847 ; 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON   THE   STUMP."  97 

but  still  the  gad  waves,  and  the  voice  grows  more  distinct,  and 
sharper  still — '  back,  sir !'  '  back,  I  say  !'  '  further  back  !'  and 
back  he  goes  to  the  position  of  December,  1847 ;  at  which  the 
gad  is  still,  and  the  voice  soothingly  says— 'So!'  'Stand  still 
at  that.' 

"  Have  no  fears,  gentlemen,  of  your  candidate ;  he  exactly 
suits  you,  and  we  congratulate  you  upon  it.  However  much 
you  may  be  distressed  about  our  candidate,  you  have  all  cause 
to  be  contented  and  happy  with  your  own.  If  elected,  he  may 
not  maintain  all,  or  even  any  of  his  positions  previously  taken  ; 
but  he  will  be  sure  to  do  whatever  the  party  exigency,  for  the 
time  being,  may  require ;  and  that  is  precisely  what  you  want. 
He  and  Yan  Buren  are  the  same  '  manner  of  men ;'  and  like 
Van  Buren,  he  will  never  desert  you  till  you  first  desert  him.11 

After  referring  at  some  length  to  "  extra  charges"  of 
General  Cass  upon  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Lincoln  con 
tinued  : 


WONDERFUL   PHYSICAL   CAPACITIES. 

"  But  I  have  introduced  General  Cass's  accounts  here,  chiefly 
to  show  the  wonderful  physical  capacities  of  the  man.  They 
show  that  he  not  only  did  the  labor  of  several  men  at  the  same 
time,  but  that  he  often  did  it  at  several  places,  many  hundred 
miles  apart,  at  the  same  time,  j^nd  at  eating,  too,  his  capacities 
are  shown  to  be  quite  as  wonderful.  From  October,  1821,  to 
May,  1822,  he  ate  ten  rations  a  day  in  Michigan,  ten  rations  a 
day  here,  in  Washington,  and  nearly  five  dollars'  worth  a  day 
besides,  partly  on  the  road  between  the  two  places.  And  then 
there  is  an  important  discovery  in  his  example — the  art  of 
being  paid  for  what  one  eats,  instead  of  having  to  pay  for  it. 
Hereafter,  if  any  nice  young  man  shall  owe  a  bill  which  he 
cannot  pay  in  any  other  way,  he  can  just  board  it  out.  Mr. 
Speaker,  we  have  all  heard  of  the  animal  standing  in  doubt 
7 


98  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

between  two  stacks  of  hay,  and  starving  to  death ;  the  like  of 
that  would  never  happen  to  General  Oass.  Place  the  stacks  a 
thousand  miles  apart,  he  would  stand  stock-still,  midway 
between  them,  and  eat  them  both  at  once ;  and  the  green  grass 
along  the  line  would  be  apt  to  suffer  some  too,  at  the  same 
time.  By  all  means,  make  him  President,  gentlemen.  He 
will  feed  you  bounteously — if— if  there  is  any  left  after  he 
shall  have  helped  himself." 

After  the  session  closed,  Mr.  Lincoln  made  a  visit  to 
New  England,  where  he  delivered  some  effective  cam 
paign  speeches,  which  were  enthusiastically  received  by 
large  audiences,  and  will  be  remembered  by  thousands. 
His  time,  however,  was  chiefly  given,  during  the  Con 
gressional  recess,  to  the  canvass  in  the  west,  where, 
through  the  personal  strength  of  Mr.  Cass  as  a  north 
western  man,  the  contest  was  more  severe  and  exciting 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  country.  The  final  tri 
umph  of  General  Taylor,  over  all  the  odds  against  him, 
did  much  to  counterbalance,  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  mind,  the 
disheartening  defeat  of  four  years  previous.  As  before 
stated,  he  had  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election 
to  Congress,  yet  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  aiding  to 
secure,  in  his  own  district,  a  majority  of  fifteen  hundred 
for  the  Whig  Presidential  (jandidate. 

Mr.  Lincoln  again  took  his  seat  in  the  House  in  De 
cember,  on  the  reassembling  of  the  thirtieth  Congress 
for  its  second  session.  Coming  between  the  Presidential 
election,  which  had  effected  a  political  revolution,  and 
the  inauguration  of  the  new  government,  this  session 
was  a  quiet  one,  passing  away  without  any  very  im 
portant  measures  of  general  legislation  being  acted  upon. 
A  calm  had  followed  the  recent  storms.  There  were, 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "  ON   THE   STUMP."  99 

indeed,  certain  movements  in  regard  to  slavery  and  the 
slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  which  produced 
some  temporary  excitement,  but  resulted  in  no  serious 
commotion. 

With  the  termination  of  the  thirtieth  Congress,  by 
constitutional  limitation,  on  the  fourth  of  March,  1849, 
Mr.  Lincoln's  career  as  a  Congressman  came  to  a  close, 
and  he  retired  once  more  to  private  life,  renewing  the 
professional  practice  which  had  been  temporarily  inter 
rupted  by  his  public  employment.  He  had  the  satis 
faction  of  knowing  that  the  duties  of  his  responsible 
position  had  been  discharged  with  assiduity  and  fearless 
adherence  to  his  convictions  of  right,  under  whatever 
circumstances.  Scarcely  a  list  of  Yeas  and  Nays  can 
be  found,  for  either  session,  which  does  not  contain  his 
name;  nor  was  he  ever  conveniently  absent  on  any 
critical  vote.  He  never  shrank  from  any  responsibility 
which  his  sense  of  justice  impelled  him  to  take.  And 
though  one  of  the  youngest  and  most  inexperienced 
members  of  an  uncommonly  able  and  brilliant  Congress, 
he  would  long  have  been  remembered,  even  without  the 
more  recent  events  which  have  naturally  followed  upon 
his  previous  career,  as  standing  among  the  first  in  rank 
among  the  distinguished  statesmen  of  the  thirtieth 
Congress. 

For  the  five  years  succeeding  the  canvass  of  1848, 
Mr.  Lincoln  took  no  prominent  part  in  politics,  but  re 
mained  at  home  in  the  diligent  and  successful  practice 
of  his  profession.  We  may  be  sure,  however,  that  he 
watched  closely  the  course  of  public  events.  He  had 
fought  slavery  often  enough  to  know  what  it  was,  and 
what  the  animus  of  its  supporters  was ;  nor  is  it  likely 


100  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LIXCOLJSr. 

that  he  was  taken  very  much  by  surprise  when  the 
Nebraska  bill  was  introduced,  and  the  proposition  was 
made  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas  to  repeal  that  very  Mis 
souri  Compromise  which  he  had  declared  to  be  "  a 
sacred  thing,  which  no  ruthless  hand  would  ever  be 
reckless  enough  to  disturb." 

The  passage  of  the  Nebraska  bill,  May  22d,  1854, 
gave  new  and  increased  force  to  the  popular  feeling  in 
favor  of  freedom  which  the  proposition  to  repeal  the 
Missouri  Compromise  had  already  excited,  and  promptly 
the  friends  of  freedom  rallied  round  her  banner,  to  meet 
the  conflict  which  was  now  closely  impending,  forced 
upon  the  people  by  the  grasping  ambition  of  the  slave 
holders.  The  political  campaign  of  that  year  in  Illinois 
was  one  of  the  severest  ever  known,  and  was  intensified 
by  the  fact  that  a  United  States  Senator  was  to  be 
chosen  by  the  Legislature  then  to  be  elected,  to  fill  the 
place  of  Shields,  who  had  voted  with  Douglas  in  favor 
of  the  Nebraska  bill. 

Mr.  Lincoln  took  a  prominent  part  in  this  campaign; 
and  the  crowning  victory  which  gave  Illinois  her  first 
Eepublican  Legislature,  and  made  Lyman  Trumbull  her 
United  States  Senator,  was  conceded  to  have  been 
mainly  due  to  his  extraordinary  efforts.  He  met  Judge 
Douglas  before  the  people  on  two  occasions,  the  only 
ones  when  the  Judge  would  consent  to  such  a  meeting. 
The  first  and  greatest  debate  came  off  at  Springfield, 
during  the  progress  of  the  State  Fair  in  October. 

The  State  Fair  had  been  in  progress  two  days,  and 
the  capital  was  full  of  all  manner  of  men.  Hundreds 
of  politicians  had  met  at  Springfield,  expecting  a  tour- 
nn*»ent  of  an  unusual  character.  Several  speeches  were 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "  ON   THE    STUMP.  101 

made  before,  and  several  after  the  passage  between 
Lincoln  and  Douglas,  but  that  was  justly  held  to  be  the 
event  of  the  season. 

Mr.  Lincoln  opened  the  discussion,  and  in  his  clear 
and  eloquent,  yet  homely  way,  exposed  the  tergiversa 
tions  of  which  his  opponent  had  been  guilty,  and  the 
fallacy  of  his  pretexts  for  his  present  course. 

Mr.  Douglas  had  always  claimed  to  have  voted  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  because  he  sus 
tained  the  "  great  principle"  of  popular  sovereignty,  and 
desired  that  the  inhabitants  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
should  govern  themselves,  as  they  were  well  able  to  do. 
The  fallacy  of  drawing  from  these  premises  the  conclu 
sion  that  they  therefore  should  have  the  right  to  estab 
lish  slavery  there,  was  most  clearly  and  conclusively 
exposed  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  so  that  no  one  could  thereafter 
be  misled  by  it,  unless  he  was  a  willing  dupe  of  pro- 
slavery  sophistry. 

"  My  distinguished  friend,"  said  he,  "says  it  is  an 
insult  to  the  emigrants  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  sup 
pose  that  they  are  not  able  to  govern  themselves.  We 
must  not  slur  over  an  argument  of  this  kind  because  it 
happens  to  tickle  the  ear.  It  must  be  met  and  an 
swered.  I  admit  that  the  emigrant  to  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  is  competent  to  govern  himself,  but  I  deny  Ids 
rigid  to  govern  any  other  person  without  that  person! s 
consent? 

The  two  opponents  met  again  at  Peoria,  and  we 
believe  it  is  universally  admitted  that  on  both  of  these 
occasions  Mr.  Lincoln  had  decidedly  the  advantage. 
Nor  did  he  confine  his  labors  to  the  upper  portion  of 
Illinois,  but  he  carried  the  war  into  the  central  portions 


102  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  the  State,  and  he  illuminated  the  precincts  of  be 
nighted  "  Egypt."  Here  the  population  was  largely 
composed  of  emigrants  from  slave  States — Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  Virginia  and  North  Carolina — and  he  urged 
upon  them  the  slavery  issue  with  all  the  vigor  of  his 
understanding,  and  all  the  arts  of  his  true  eloquence. 
The  political  feeling'of  the  State  was  completely  revo 
lutionized.  For  the  first  time  in  her  history  a  freedom- 
loving  majority  ruled  her  legislative  halls,  and  opposed 
the  retrogressive  policy  of  the  Democratic  administration 
at  Washington.  The  election  for  United  States  Senator 
came  on,  and  the  anti-Nebraska  Democrats  united  on 
Mr.  Trumbull,  the  opposition  invariably  casting  their 
votes  for  Lincoln.  Mr.  Lincoln,  fearing  that  the  anti^ 
Nebraska  democrats,  though  averse  to  Mr.  Douglas, 
would  relinquish  Judge  Trumbull  for  some  third  candi 
date  of  less  decided  anti-slavery  views,  readily  sacrificed 
his  own  interests,  and  by  personal  persuasion  induced 
his  own  supporters  to  vote  for  Trumbull,  who  was  thus 
elected. 

Some  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  friends,  on  the  floor  of  the 
Legislature,  wept  like  children,  when  constrained  by 
Mr.  Lincoln's  personal  appeals  to  desert  him  and  unite 
on  Trumbull.  It  is  proper  to  say,  in  this  connection, 
that  between  Trumbull  and  Lincoln  the  most  cordial 
relations  have  always  existed,  and  that  the  feeling  of 
envy  or  rivalry  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  breast  of 
either. 

In  1854,  the  anti-Nebraska  (afterward  Kepublican) 
party  offered  to  Mr.  Lincoln  the  nomination  for  Gov 
ernor.  He  declined,  saying,  "  No,  I  am  not  the  man : 
Bissell  will  make  a  better  Governor  than  I,  and  you 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "  ON   THE   STUMP."  103 

can  elect  him,  on  account  of  his  Democratic  antece 
dents." 

The  pressure  of  the  contest  between  Slavery  and 
Freedom  at  length  organized  the  Republican  party,  and, 
at  its  first  national  Convention,  which  met  at  Phila 
delphia,  June  17th,  1856,  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  conspicuous  before  the  convention  for  the  Vice 
Presidency,  standing  second  to  Mr.  Dayton  on  the  in 
formal  ballot,  and  receiving  one  hundred  votes.  The 
choice  of  that  convention  having  settled  upon  John  C. 
Fremont  and  William  L.  Dayton  for  its  candidates,  Mr. 
Lincoln  took  an  active  part  in  the  ensuing  canvass. 
The  Republican  electoral  ticket  of  Illinois  was  headed 
by  his  name,  although  eventually  the  Democracy  carried 
the  State  by  a  plurality  vote. 

The  great  senatorial  contest  which  took  place  in  the 
summer  of  1858,  fully  established  Mr.  Lincoln's  reputa 
tion  as  an  able  debator,  an  eloquent  orator,  and  a  wise 
politician. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1857,  Mr.  Buchanan  had  taken 
his  seat  in  the  Presidential  chair,  the  struggle  between 
Freedom  and  Slavery  for  the  possession  of  Kansas  being 
then  at  its  height.  A  few  days  after  his  inauguration, 
the  Supreme  Court  rendered  the  Dred  Scott  decision, 
which  was  thought  by  the  friends  of  Slavery  to  insure 
their  victory,  by  its  holding  the  Missouri  Compromise 
to  be  unconstitutional,  because  the  Constitution  itself 
carried  Slavery  over  all  the  Territories  of  the  United 
States.  In  spite  of  this  decision,  the  friends  of  Freedom 
in  Kansas  maintained  their  ground.  The  slaveholders, 
however,  pushed  forward  their  schemes,  and  in  Novem 
ber,  1857,  their  constitutional  Convention,  held  at 


104  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

\ 

Lecompton,  adopted  the  infamous  Lecompton  Constitu 
tion.  The  trick  by  which  they  submitted  to  the  popular 
vote  only  a  schedule  on  the  slavery  question,  instead  of 
the  whole  Constitution,  compelling  every  voter,  however 
he  voted  upon  this  schedule,  to  vote  for  their  Constitu 
tion,  which  fixed  slavery  upon  the  State  just  as  surely 
whether  the  schedule  was  adopted  or  not,  will  be  well 
remembered,  as  well  as  the  feeling  which  so  villainous 
a  scheme  excited  throughout  the  north.  Judge  Douglas 
had  sustained  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  but  he  could  not 
sustain  this  attempt  to  force  upon  the  people  of  Kansas 
a  constitution  against  their  will.  He  declared  that  he 
did  not  care  himself  whether  the  people  "  voted  the 
slavery  clause  up  or  down,"  but  he  thought  they  ought 
to  have  the  chance  to  vote  for  or  against  the  Constitu 
tion  itself. 

By  this  refusal  to  support  the  Lecompton  fraud,  he, 
of  course,  earned  for  himself  the  enmity  of  the  Adminis 
tration  ;  but  his  strength,  both  in  and  out  of  Illinois, 
was  still  enormous.  Indeed,  his  defection  from  the 
then  openly-avowed  pro-slavery  policy  of  his  party,  had 
won  for  him  the  approval  of  many  Republicans,  so  that 
he  was,  in  reality,  stronger  than  ever.  Of  course,  under 
these  circumstances,  it  required  a  man  of  no  ordinary 
ability  to  contest  the  State  of  Illinois  with  the  "  Little 
Giant."  It  was  then  that  Mr.  Lincoln  stood  forth  in 
the  opinion  of  his  party  and  of  the  lovers  of  freedom  of 
Illinois,  as  pre-eminently  the  man  to  become  their 
champion.  He  accordingly  received  the  nomination  for 
United  States  Senator  from  the  Republican  State  Con 
vention,  which  met  at  Springfield,  June  2d,  1858. 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Convention  which 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "  ON   TEE   STUMP."  105 

had   nominated   him,  was  the   beginning  of  the  cam 
paign. 

Its  opening  sentences  contained  those  celebrated 
words,  which  have  been  often  quoted  both  by  friends 
and  enemies :  "A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot 
stand.  I  believe  this  Government  cannot  endure  permct- 
nently  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union 
to  be  dissolved — I  do  not  expect  tlie  house  to  fall,  but  I  do 
expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one 
thing  or  all  the  other."  Little  idea  could  he  have  had 
then  how  near  the  time  was  when  the  country  should 
be  united  upon  this  point.  Still  less  could  he  have 
dreamed  through  what  convulsions  it  was  to  pass  before 
it  should  reach  that  wished-for  position : — into  what  an 
abyss  of  madness  and  crime  the  advocates  of  Slavery 
would  plunge  in  their  efforts  to  "  push  it  forward  till  it 
should  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  states,  old  as  well 
as  new — North  as  well  as  South."  But  there  seemed 
to  him  to  be  manifest  indications  of  their  design,  and  he 
devoted  his  speech  to  showing  forth  the  machinery 
which  they  had  now  almost  completed,  for  the  attain 
ment  of  their  purpose ;  it  only.needing  that  the  Supreme 
Court  should  say  that  the  Constitution  carried  slavery 
over  the  States,  as  they  had  already  in  the  Dred  Scott 
decision  declared  that  it  was  carried  over  the  Territories. 
He  closed  his  speech  with  a  sharp  attack  upon  Douglas, 
as  being  a  party  to  this  plan  to  legalize  slavery  over 
the  continent.  It  was  plain  from  the  first  that  the 
struggle  would  take  the  shape  of  a  personal  contest 
between  the  two  men.  Each  recognized  the  other  as 
the  embodiment  of  principles  to  which  he  was  in  deadly 
hostility.  Douglas  was  the  champion  of  all  sympathizers 


106  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

with  and  advocates  of  slavery  at  the  North.  Lincoln 
glowed  with  love  of  freedom  and  humanity.  The  pro 
jected  tournament  of  debate  between  the  rival  candi 
dates  was  opened  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  a  brief  note,  under 
the  date  of  July  24th,  requesting  an  arrangement 
uto  divide  time,  and  address  the  same  audiences  during 
the  present  canvass."  Douglas  accepted  the  challenge — 
although  rather  with  apparent  unwillingness.  The 
terms  were  agreed  upon,  and  the  places  and  days  of 
meeting  specified. 

It  will  be  impossible  to  give  any  thing  more  than  a 
brief  synopsis  of  these  celebrated  debates.  It  was  the 
general  verdict  of  the  press  and  of  the  country,  that, 
in  every  encounter,  Mr.  Lincoln  held  his  ground  firmly 
against  his  talented  opponent ;  and  it  is  very  probable  that 
the  majority  accorded  to  the  former  the  meed  of  victory. 

On  the  evening  before  the  debate  which  took  place  at 
Freeport,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  company  with  a  few 
friends,  when  it  was  remarked  by  some  of  them,  that 
if  he  cornered  Douglas  on  the  question  of  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  his  opponent  (Douglas)  would  surely 
"  take  the  bull  by  the  horns,  and  assert  his  squatter 
sovereignty  in  defiance  of  that  decision,  and  that  will 
make  him  Senator."  "  That  may  be,"  replied  Lincoln, 
"  but,  if  he  takes  that  shoot,  HE  never  can  be  President." 

Was  there  not  something  like  a  prophecy  in  this 
careless  rejoinder  ? 

Judah  Benjamin,  of  Louisiana,  one  of  the  ablest  of 
southern  Senators — afterwards  Secretary  of  State  in 
Jefferson  Davis's  cabinet — complimented  Mr.  Lincoln 
very  highly,  in  the  course  of  a  speech  wherein  he  had 
occasion  to  review  this  celebrated  series  of  debates. 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON   THE    STUMP."  107 

Speaking  of  the  queries  propounded  by  Douglas  to  his 
opponent,  and  the  answers  they  elicited,  Mr.  Benjamin 
observed  : 

"  It  is  impossible,  Mr.  President,  however  we  may  differ  in 
opinion  with  the  man,  not  to  admire  the  perfect  candor  and 
frankness  with  which  these  answers  were  given ;  no  equivoca 
tion — no  evasion." 

The  seven  joint  debates  were  held  as  follows: — at 
Ottawa  on  August  21st;  at  Freeport  on  August  27th; 
at  Jonesboro'  on  September  15th ;  at  Charleston  on  Sep 
tember  18th;  at  Galesburg  on  October  7th;  at  Quincy 
on  October  13th;  at  Alton  on  October  15th: 

"  These  seven  tournaments,"  says  Mr.  Raymond,  "  raised  the 
greatest  excitement  throughout  the  State.*  They  were  held  in 
all  quarters  of  the  State,  from  Freeport  in  the  north  to  Jones 
boro'  in  the  extreme  south.  Everywhere  the  different  parties 
turned  out  to  do  honor  to  their  champions.  Processions  and 
cavalcades,  bands  of  music  and  cannon-firing,  made  every  day 
a  day  of  excitement.  But  far  greater  was  the  excitement  of 
such  oratorical  contests  between  two  such  skilled  debaters, 
before  mixed  audiences  of  friends  and  foes,  to  rejoice  over 
every  keen  thrust  at  the  adversary  ;  to  be  cast  down  by  each 
failure  to  parry  the  thrust  so  aimed.  We  cannot  pretend  to 
give  more  than  the  barest  sketch  of  these  great  efforts  of  Mr. 
Lincoln.  They  are  and  always  will  be,  to  those  who  are  in 
terested  in  the  history  of  the  slavery  contest,  most  valuable 
and  important  documents. 

"In  the  first  speech  at  Ottawa,  besides  defending  himself 
from  some  points  which  Douglas  had  made  against  him,  and 
among  others,  explaining  and  enlarging  upon  that  passage  from 
his  Springfield  speech,  of  '  A  house  divided  against  itself,'  he 
took  up  the  charge  which  he  had  also  made  in  that  speech  of 
the  conspiracy  to  extend  slavery  over  the  northern  States,  and 


108  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

pressed  it  home,  citing  as  proof  of  its  existence  a  speech  which 
Douglas  himself  had  made  on  the  Lecompton  bill,  in  which  he 
had  substantially  made  the  same  charge  upon  Buchanan  and 
others.  He  then  showed  again  that  all  that  was  necessary  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  scheme  was  a  decision  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  that  no  State  could  exclude  slavery,  as  the  court 
had  already  decided  that  no  Territory  could  exclude  it,  and  the 
acquiescence  of  the  people  in  such  a  decision ;  and  he  told  the 
people  that  Douglas  was  doing  all  in  his  power  to  bring  about 
such  acquiescence  in  advance,  by  declaring  that  the  true  posi 
tion  was  not  to  care  whether  slavery  "  was  voted  down  or  up;'? 
and  by  announcing  himself  in  favor  of  the  Dred  Scott  deci 
sion,  not  because  it  was  right,  but  because  a  decision  of  the 
court  is  to  him  a  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord,'  and  thus  committing 
himself  to  the  next  decision  just  as  firmly  as  to  this.  He 
closed  his  speech  with  the  following  eloquent  words :  '  Henry 
Clay,  my  beau  ideal  of  a  statesman — the  man  for  whom  I 
fought  all  my  humble  life — once  said  of  a  class  of  men  who 
would  repress  all  tendencies  to  liberty  and  ultimate  emancipa 
tion,  that  they  must,  if  they  would  do  this,  go  back  to  the  era 
of  Independence  and  muzzle  the  cannon  whicli  thunders  its 
annual  joyous  return ;  they  must  blow  out  the  moral  lights 
around  us ;  they  must  penetrate  the  human  soul  and  eradicate 
there  the  love  of  liberty ;  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  could 
they  perpetuate  slavery  in  this  country.  To  my  thinking, 
Judge  Douglas  is,  by  his  example  and  vast  influence,  doing 
that  very  thing  in  this  community,  when  he  says  that  the 
negro  has  nothing  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Henry 
Clay  plainly  understood  the  contrary.  Judge  Douglas  is 
going  back  to  the  era  of  our  Revolution,  and  to  the  extent  of 
his  ability  muzzling  the  cannon  which  thunders  its  annual 
joyous  return.  When  he  invites  any  people,  willing  to  have 
slavery,  to  establish  it,  he  is  blowing  out  the  moral  lights 
around  us.  When  he  says  he  'cares  not  whether  slavery  13 
voted  down  or  up' — that  it  is  a  sacred  right  of  self-government, 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON   THE   STUMP."  109 

he  is,  in  my  judgment,  penetrating  the  human  soul  and  eradi 
cating  the  light  of  reason  and  the  love  of  liberty  in  this  Ame 
rican  people.  And  when,  by  all  these  means  and  appliances, 
he  shall  succeed  in  bringing  public  sentiment  to  an  exact 
accordance  with  his  own  views — when  these  vast  assemblages 
shall  echo  back  all  these  sentiments,  when  they  shall  come  to 
repeat  his  views  and  to  avow  his  principles,  and  to  say  all  that 
he  says  on  these  mighty  questions — then  it  needs  only  the 
formality  of  the  second  Dred  Scott  decision,  which  he  endorses 
in  advance,  to  make  slavery  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States — • 
old  as  well  as  new,  north  as  well  as  south. 

"  In  the  second  debate  at  Freeport,  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  catego 
rical  answers  to  seven  questions  which  Douglas  had  proposed 
to  him,  and  in  his  turn  put  four  questions  to  Douglas,  to 
which  he  got  but  evasive  replies.  He  also  pressed  home  upon 
his  opponent  a  charge  of  quoting  resolutions  as  being  adopted 
at  a  Kepublican  State  Convention,  which  were  never  so 
adopted,  and  again  called  Douglas's  attention  to  the  conspiracy 
to  nationalize  slavery,  and  he  showed  that  his  pretended  desire 
to  leave  the  people  of  a  Territory  free  to  establish  slavery  or 
exclude  it,  was  really  only  a  desire  to  allow  them  to  establish 
it,  as  was  shown  by  his  voting  against  Mr.  Chase's  amendment 
to  the  Nebraska  bill,  which  gave  them  leave  to  exclude  it. 
In  the 'third  debate  at  Jonesboro,  Mr.  Lincoln  showed  that 
Douglas  and  his  friends  were  trying  to  change  the  position  of 
the  country  on  the  slavery  question  from  what  it  was  when 
the  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  that  the  disturbance  of  the 
country  had  arisen  from  this  pernicious  effort.  He  then  cited 
from  Democratic  speeches  and  platforms  of  former  days  to 
show  that  they  occupied  then  the  very  opposite  ground  on  the 
question  from  that  which  was  taken  now,  and  showed  up  the 
evasive  character  of  Douglas's  answers  to  the/ questions  which 
he  had  proposed,  especially  the  subterfuge  of  'unfriendly 
legislation'  which  he  had  set  forth  as  the  means  by  which  the 


110  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

people  of  a  Territory  could  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits  in 
spite  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision. 

"When  Mr.  Lincoln  was  preparing  these  questions  for 
Douglas,  he  was  urged  by  some  of  his  friends  not  to  corner 
him  on  that  point,  because  he  would  surely  stand  by  his  doc 
trine  of  squatter  sovereignty  in  defiance  of  the  Dred  Scott 
decision,  'and  that,'  said  they,  'will  make  him  Senator.'  'That 
may  be,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  '  but  if 
he  takes  that  shoot  he  never  can  be  President.' 

"  Mr.  Lincoln's  sagacity  did  not  fail  him  here.  This  position 
which  Douglas  took  of  'unfriendly  legislation,'  was  a  stumb 
ling  block  which  he  was  never  able  to  get  over ;  and  if  the 
contest  between  them  had  brought  out  no  other  good  result, 
the  compelling  Douglas  to  take  this  ground  was  an  immense 
success. 

"  The  fourth  speech,  at  Charleston,  was  devoted  by  Mr.  Lin 
coln  to  enlarging  upon  the  evidence  of  a  charge  previously 
made  by  Judge  Trumbull  upon  Douglas  of  being  himself 
responsible  for  a  clause  in  the  Kansas  bill  which  would  have 
deprived  the  people  of  Kansas  of  the  right  to  vote  upon  their 
own  constitution — a  charge  which  Douglas  could  nevejr  try  to 
answer  without  losing  his  temper. 

"In  the  fifth  debate,  Mr.  Lincoln  answered  the  charge  that 
the  Eepublican  party  was  sectional ;  and  after  again  exploding 
the  fraudulent  resolutions  and  giving  strong  proof  that  Dou 
glas  himself  was  a  party  to  the  fraud,  and  again  showing  that 
Douglas  had  failed  to  answer  his  question  about  the  acceptance 
of  the  new  Dred  Scott  decision,  which,  he  said,  was  just  as 
sure  'to  be  made  as  to-morrow  is  to  come,  if  the  Democratic 
party  shall  be  sustained'  in  the  elections,  he  discussed  the 
acquisition  of  further  territory  and  the  importance  of  deciding 
upon  any  such  acquisition,  by  the  effect  which  it  would  have 
upon  the  slavery  question  among  ourselves. 

"In  the  next  debate,  at  Quincy,  besides  making  some  per 
sonal  points  as  to  the  mode  in  which  Douglas  had  conducted 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    <**ON   THE    STUMP."  Ill 

the  previous  discussions,  he  stated  clearly  and  briefly  what 
were  the  principles  of  the  Kepublican  party,  what  they  pro 
posed  to  do,  and  what  they  did  not  propose  to  do.  He  said 
that  they  looked  upon  slavery  as  '  a  moral,  a  social,  and  a  polit 
ical  wrong,'  and  they  'proposed  a  course  of  conduct  which 
should  treat  it  as  a  wrong ;'  did  not  propose  to  '  disturb  it  in 
the  States,'  but  did  propose  to  '  restrict  it  to  its  present  limits ;" 
did  not  propose  to  decide  that  Dred  Scott  was  free,  but  did  not 
believe  that  the  decision  in  that  case  was  a  political  rule  bind 
ing  the  voters,  the  Congress,  or  the  President,  and  proposed 
'so  resisting  it  as  to  have  it  reversed  if  possible,  and  a  new 
judicial  rule  established  on  the  subject.' 

"  Mr.  Lincoln's  last  speech,  at  Alton,  was  a  very  full  and 
conclusive  argument  of  the  whole  slavery  question.  He 
showed  that  the  present  Democratic  doctrines  were  not  those 
held  at  the  time  of  the  Ee volution  in  reference  to  slavery ; 
showed  how  the  agitation  of  the  country  had  come  from  the 
attempt  to  set  slavery  upon  a  different  footing,  and  showed 
the  clangers  to  the  country  of  this  attempt.  He  brought  the 
whole  controversy  down  to  the  vital  question  whether  slavery 
is  wrong  or  not,  and  demonstrated  that  the  present  Democratic 
sentiment  was  that  it  was  not  wrong,  and  that  Douglas  and 
those  who  sympathized  writh  him  did  not  desire  or  expect  ever 
to  see  the  country  freed  from  this  gigantic  evil. 

"It  must  not  be  supposed  that  these  seven  debates  were  all 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  appearances  before  the  people  during  the 
campaign.  He  made  some  fifty  other  speeches  all  over  the 
State,  and  everywhere  his  strong  arguments,  his  forcible  lan 
guage,  and  his  homely  way  of  presenting  the  great  issues,  so 
as  to  bring  them  home  to  the  hearts  of  the  people,  had  a  pow 
erful  effect.  The  whole  State  fairly  boiled  with  the  excite 
ment  of  the  contest.  Nor  this  alone,  for  all  over  the  country 
the  eyes  of  the  people  were  turned  to  Illinois  as  the  great 
battle-ground,  and  the  earnest  wishes  of  almost  all  who  loved 
freedom  followed  Mr.  Lincoln  throughout  all  the  heated 


112  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN". 

struggle.  He  had,  however,  other  opposition  besides  that  of 
his  political  opponents.  The  action  of  Judge  Douglas  on  the 
Lecompton  constitution,  and  the  bitter  hostility  of  the  southern 
wing  of  the  Democratic  party  towards  him,  had  led  very  many 
Republicans,  and  some  of  high  consideration  and  influence  in 
other  States,  to  favor  his  return  to  the  Senate.  They  deemed 
this  due  to  the  zeal  and  efficiency  with  which  he  had  resisted 
the  attempt  to  force  slavery  into  Kansas  against  the  will  of  the 
people,  and  as  important  in  encouraging  other  Democratic 
leaders  to  imitate  the  example  of  Douglas  in  throwing  off  the 
yoke  of  the  slaveholding  aristocracy.  This  feeling  proved  to  be 
of  a  good  deal  of  weight  against  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  canvas. 

"  Then,  again,  the  State  had  been  so  unfairly  districted,  that 
the  odds  were  very  heavily  against  the  Republicans,  and  thus 
it  came  about  that  although  on  the  popular  vote  Douglas  was 
beaten  by  more  than  five  thousand  votes,  he  was  enabled  to 
carry  off  the  substantial  prize  of  victory  by  his  majority  in 
the  Legislature.  The  popular  vote  was  for  Lincoln,  by  more 
than  four  tliousaml  majority  over  Douglas.  But  the  vote  for 
Senator  being  cast  by  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Douglas  was  elected, 
his  supporters  having  a  majority  of  eight  on  joint  ballot. 
Notwithstanding  the  result,  the  endeavors  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
during  the  debate  had  caused  an  immense  increase  in  the 
Republican  vote ;  and  his  party  had  no  reason  to  regret  that 
their  choice  of  a  leader  had  fallen  upon  him.  We  say  the 
'  substantial  prize  of  victory,'  and  so  it  was  thought  to  be  at 
the  time.  But  later  events  showed  that  the  battle  which  was 
then  fought  was  after  all  but  the  precursor  of  the  Presidential 
contest,  and  that  it  secured  to  Mr.  Lincoln  the  victory  in  that 
more  important  struggle." 

During  this  campaign,  Mr.  Lincoln  paid  the  following 
glowing  tribute  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence : 

"  These  communities,  (the  thirteen  colonies,)  by  their  repre- 
sensatives  in  the  old  Independence  Hall,  said  to  the  world  of 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    aOX    THE    STUMP."  113 

men,  '  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are 
born  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  in 
alienable  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur 
suit  of  happiness.'  This  was  their  majestic  interpretation  of  the 
economy  of  the  universe.  This  was  their  lofty  and  wise,  and 
noble  understanding  of  the  justice  of  the  Creator  to  His 
creatures.  Yes,  gentlemen,  to  all  His  creatures,  to  the  whole 
great  family  of  man.  In  their  enlightened  belief,  nothing 
stamped  with  the  Divine  image  and  likeness  was  sent  into  the 
world  to  be  trodden  on,  and  degraded,  and  imbruted  by  its 
fellows.  They  grasped  not  only  the  race  of  men  then  living, 
but  they  reached  forward  and  seized  upon  the  furthest  pos 
terity.  They  created  a  beacon  to  guide  their  children  and 
their  children's  children,  and  the  countless  myriads  who  should 
inhabit  the  earth  in  other  ages.  Wise  statesmen  as  they  were, 
they  knew  the  tendency  of  prosperity  to  breed  tyrants,  and 
so  they  established  these  great  self-evident  truths  that  when,  in 
the  distant  future,  some  man,  some  faction,  some  interest, 
should  set  up  the  doctrine  that  none  but  rich  men,  or  none  but 
white  men,  or  none  but  Anglo-Saxon  white  men,  were  en 
titled  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  their  pos 
terity  might  look  up  again  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  take  courage  to  renew  the  battle  which  their  fathers  began, 
so  that  truth,  and  justice,  ?nd  mercy,  and  all  the  humane  and 
Christian  virtues  might  not  be  extinguished  from  the  land ;  so 
that  no  man  would  hereafter  dare  to  limit  and  circumscribe 
the  great  principles  on  which  the  temple  of  liberty  was  bein(g 
built. 

"Now,  my  countrymen,  if  you  have  been  taught  doctrines 
conflicting  with  the  great  landmarks  of  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence  ;  if  you  have  listened  to  suggestions  which  would 
take  away  from  its  grandeur,  and  mutilate  the  fair  symmetry 
of  its  proportions ;  if  you  have  been  inclined  to  believe  that  all 
men  are  not  created  equal  in  those  inalienable  rights  enu 
merated  by  our  chart  of  liberty,  let  me  entreat  you  to  come 
8 


114  THE    -LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

back — return  to  the  fountain  whose  waters  spring  close  by  the 
blood  of  the  Ee volution.  Think  nothing  of  me,  take  no 
thought  for  the  political  fate  of  any  man  whomsoever,  but 
come  back  to  the  truths  that  are  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence. 

'  You  may  do  any  thing  with  me  you  choose,  if  you  will  but 
heed  these  sacred  principles.  You  may  not  only  defeat  me 
for  the  Senate,  but  you  may  take  me  and  put  me  to  death. 
While  pretending  no  indifference  to  earthly  honors,  I  do  claim 
to  be  actuated  in  this  contest  by  something  higher  than  an 
anxiety  for  office.  I  charge  you  to  drop  every  paltry  and  in 
significant  thought  for  any  man's  success.  It  is  nothing ;  I  am 
nothing ;  Judge  Douglas  is  nothing.  But  do  not  destroy  that 
immortal  emblem  of  humanity — the  Declaration  of  American 
Independence" 

As  we  have  already  stated,  the  exciting  struggle  was 
watched  with  intense  interest,  not  only  by  the  members 
of  the  respective  political  parties  of  which  the  two 
orators  were  recognized  leaders  and  champions,  but  by 
that  portion  of  the  different  communities  of  the  Union 
who  do  not  generally  trouble  their  minds  with  political 
contests.  Copious  extracts  from  the  speeches  of  both 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Douglas  were  published  in  the 
journals  of  the  day,  and  criticisms  of  the  orators  and 
their  discussions  appeared  in  the  leading  magazines  and 
newspapers. 

From  some  of  the  latter  we  select  the  following  as 
showing  in  what  estimation  the  talents  and  ability  of 
the  honorable  subject  of  our  sketch  were  held  at  the 
time  of  which  we  now  more  particularly  speak,  and  to 
give  our  readers,  who  have  not  had  the  opportunity  to 
see  Mr.  Lincoln,  an  idea  of  his  personal  appearance. 

One  writer  gives  the  following  pen-portrait : 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "  UN   THE    STUMP."  115 

Mr.  Lincoln  stands  six  feet  and  four  inches  high  in  his 
stockings.  His  frame  is  not  muscular,  but  gaunt  and  wiry ; 
his  arms  are  long,  but  not  unreasonably  so  for  a  person  of 
his  height ;  his  lower  limbs  are  not  disproportioned  to  his 
body.  In  walking,  his  gait,  though  firm,  is  never  brisk.  He 
steps  slowly  and  deliberately,  almost  always  with  his  head  in 
clined  forward,  and  his  hands  clasped  behind  his  back.  In 
matters  of  dress  he  is  by  no  means  precise.  Always  clean,  he 
is  never  fashionable ;  he  is  careless,  but  not  slovenly.  .  In 
manner  he  is  remarkably  cordial,  and,  at  the  same  time,  simple. 
His  politeness  is  always  sincere,  but  never  elaborate  and  op 
pressive.  A  warm  shake  of  the  hand,  and  a  warmer  smile  of 
recognition,  are  his  methods  of  greeting  his  friends.  At  rest, 
his  features,  though  those  of  a  man  of  mark,  are  not  such  as 
belong  to  a  handsome  man ;  but  when  his  fine  dark  gray  eyes 
are  lighted  up  by  any  emotion,  and  his  features  begin  their 
play,  he  would  be  chosen  from  among  a  crowd  as  one  who 
had  in  him  not  only  the  kindly  sentiments  which  women  love, 
but  the  heavier  metal  of  which  full-grown  men  and  Presidents 
are  made.  His  hair  is  black,  and  though  thin  is  wiry.  His 
head  sits  well  on  his  shoulders,  but  beyond  that  it  defies  de 
scription.  It  nearer  resembles  that  of  Clay  than  that  of  Web 
ster  ;  but  it  is  unlike  either.  It  is  very  large,  and,  phrenologi- 
cally,  well  proportioned,  betokening  power  in  all  its  develop 
ments.  A  slightly  Koman  nose,  a  wide-cut  mouth,  and  a  dark 
complexion,  with  the  appearance  of  having  been  weather- 
beaten,  complete  the  description. 

"In  his  personal  habits,  Mr.  Lincoln  is  as  simple  as  a  child. 
He  loves  a  good  dinner,  and  eats  with  the  appetite  which  goes 
with  a  great  brain ;  but  his  food  is  plain  and  nutritious.  He 
never  drinks  intoxicating  liquors  of  any  sort,  not  even  a  glass 
of  wine.  He  is  not  addicted  to  tobacco  in  any  of  its  shapes. 
He  never  was  accused  of  a  licentious  act  in  all  his  life.  He 
never  uses  profane  language. 

"A  friend  says  that  once,  when  in  a  towering  rage,  in  conse- 


116  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

quence  of  the  efforts  of  certain  parties  to  perpetrate  a  fraud  on 
the  State,  he  was  heard  to  say :  '  They  sha'n't  do  it,  d — n  'em  !' 
bat  beyond  an  expression  of  that  kind,  his  bitterest  feelings 
never  carry  him.  He  never  gambles ;  we  doubt  if  he  ever  in 
dulges  in  any  games  of  chance.  He  is  particularly  cautious 
about  incurring  pecuniary  obligations  for  any  purpose  what 
ever,  and  in  debt,  he  is  never  content  until  the  score  is  dis 
charged.  We  presume  he  owes  no  man  a  dollar.  He  never 
speculates.  The  rage  for  the  sudden  acquisition  of  wealth 
never  took  hold  of  him.  His  gains  from  his  profession  have 
been  moderate,  but  sufficient  for  his  purposes.  While  others 
have  dreamed  of  gold,  he  has  been  in  pursuit  of  knowledge. 
In  all  his  dealings  he  has  the  reputation  of  being  generous  but 
exact,  and,  above  all,  religiously  honest.  He  would  be  a  bold 
man  who  would  say  that  Abraham  Lincoln  ever  wronged  any 
one  out  of  a  cent,  or  ever  spent  a  dollar  that  he  had  not 
honestly  earned.  His  struggles  in  early  life  have  made  him 
careful  of  money  ;  but  his  generosity  with  his  own  is  proverbial. 
He  is  a  regular  attendant  upon  religious  worship,  and  though 
not  a  communicant,  is  a  pew-holder  and  liberal  supporter  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Springfield,  to  which  Mrs.  Lincoln 
belongs.  He  is  a  scrupulous  teller  of  the  truth — too  exact  in 
his  notions  to  suit  the  atmosphere  of  Washington,  as  it  now  is. 
His  enemies  may  say  that  he  tells  Black  Eepublican  lies ;  but 
no  man  ever  charged  that,  in  a  professional  capacity,  or  as  a 
citizen  dealing  with  his  neighbors,  he  would  depart  from  the 
scriptural  command.  At  home,  he  lives  like  a  gentleman  of 
modest  means  and  simple  tastes.  A  good-sized  house  of  wood, 
simply  but  tastefully  furnished,  surrounded  by  trees  and 
flowers,  is  his  own,  and  there  he  lives,  at  peace  with  himself,  the 
idol  of  his  family,  and  for  his  honesty,  ability  and  patriotism, 
the  admiration  of  his  count^men." 

Another  person  gives  the  subjoined  sketch  of  him : 
"In  personal  appearance,  Mr.  Lincoln,  or,  as   he   is   more 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON   THE    STUMP."  117 

familiarly  termed  among  thoso  who  know  him  best,  'Old 
Uncle  Abe,'  is  long,  lean,  and  wiry.  In  motion  he  has  a  great 
deal  of  the  elasticity  and  awkwardness  which  indicate  the 
rough  training  of  his  early  life,  and  his  conversation  savors 
strongly  of  western  idioms  and  pronunciation.  His  height  is 
six  feet  four  inches.  His  complexion  is  about  that  of  an  octo 
roon  ;  his  face,  without  being  by  any  means  beautiful,  is  genial- 
looking,  and  good  humor  seems  to  lurk  in  every  corner  of  its 
innumerable  angles.  He  has  dark  hair  tinged  with  gray,  a 
good  forehead,  small  eyes,  a  long  penetrating  nose,  with  nos 
trils  such  as  Napoleon  always  liked  to  find  in  his  best  generals, 
because  they  indicated  a  long  head  and  clear  thoughts ;  and  a 
mouth  which,  aside  from  being  of  magnificent  proportions,  is 
probably  the  most  expressive  feature  of  his  face. 

"As  a  speaker  he  is  ready,  precise,  and  fluent.  His  manner 
before  a  popular  assembly  is  as  he  pleases  to  make  it,  being 
either  superlatively  ludicrous,  or  very  impressive.  He  employs 
but  little  gesticulation,  but  when  he  desires  to  make  a  point, 
produces  a  shrug  of  his  shoulders,  an  elevation  of  his  eyebrows, 
a  depression  of  his  mouth,  and  a  general  malformation  of  coun 
tenance  so  comically  awkward  that  it  never  fails  to  'bring 
down  the  house.'  His  enunciation  is  slow  and  emphatic,  and 
his  voice,  though  sharp  and  powerful,  at  times  has  a  frequent 
tendency  to  dwindle  into  a  shrill  and  unpleasant  sound ;  but,  as 
before  stated,  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  his  delivery  is  the 
remarkable  mobility  of  his  features,  the  frequent  contortions 
of  which  excite  a  merriment  his  words  could  not  produce." 

A  third  says : 

"  In  perhaps  the  severest  test  that  could  have  been  applied 
to  any  man's  temper — his  political  contest  with  Senator 
Douglas  in  1858 — Mr.  Lincoln  not  only  proved  himself  an  able 
speaker  and  a  good  tactician,  but  demonstrated  that  it  is  pos 
sible  to  carry  on  the  fiercest  political  warfare  without  once 
descending  to  rude  personality  and  course  denunciation.  We 


118  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

have  it  on  the  authority  of  a  gentleman  who  followed  Abraham 
Lincoln  throughout  the  whole  of  that  campaign,  that  in  spite 
of  all  the  temptations  to  an  opposite  course  to  which  he  was 
continuously  exposed,  no  personalities  against  his  opponent,  no 
vituperation  or  coarseness,  ever  defiled  his  lips.  His  kind  and 
genial  nature  lifted  him  above  a  resort  to  any  such  weapons 
of  political  warfare,  and  it  was  the  commonly-expressed  regret 
of  fiercer  natures  that  he  treated  his  opponent  too  courteously 
and  urbanely.  Vulgar  personalities  and  vituperation  are  the 
last  thing  that  can  be  truthfully  charged  against  Abraham 
Lincoln.  His  heart  is  too  genial,  his  good  sense  too  strong, 
and  his  innate  self-respect  too  predominant  to  permit  him  to 
indulge  in  them.  His  nobility  of  nature — and  we  may  use  the 
term  advisedly — has  been  as  manifest  throughout  his  whole 
career  as  his  temperate  habits,  his  self-reliance,  and  his  mental 
and  intellectual  power." 

And  a  fourth,  a  distinguished  scholar,  after  listening 
to  a  speech  delivered  at  Galesburgh,  thus  wrote  : 

"  The  men  are  entirely  dissimilar.  Mr.  Douglas  is  a  thick 
set,  finely -built,  courageous  man,  and  has  an  air  of  self-confi 
dence  that  does  not  a  little  to  inspire  his  supporters  with  hope. 
Mr.  Lincoln  is  a  tall,  lank  man,  awkward,  apparently  diffident, 
and  when  not  speaking  has  neither  firmness  in  his  countenance 
nor  fire  in  his  eye. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  has  a  rich,  silvery  voice,  enunciates  with  great 
distinctness,  and  has  a  fine  command  of  language.  He  com 
menced  by  a  review  of  the  points  Mr.  Douglas  had  made.  In 
this  he  showed  great  tact,  and  his  retorts,  though  gentlemanly, 
were  sharp,  and  reached  to  the  core  the  subject  in  dispute. 
While  he  gave  but  little  time  to  the  work  of  review,  we  did  not 
feel  that  any  thing  was  omitted  which  deserved  attention." 

The  most  graphic  description  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  he 
appeared  during  this  canvass,  is  given  by  Mr.  Albert 


IN    CONGRESS   AND    "  ON   THE    STUMP."  119 

D.  Richardson,  the  well-known  Tribune  correspondent, 
in  his  book  entitled  "The  Field,  the  Dungeon,  the 
Escape :" 

"During  the  great  canvass  for  the  United  States  Senate 
between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Douglas,"  says  Mr.  Eichardson, 
"the  right  of  Congress  to  exclude  slavery  from  the  territories 
was  the  chief  point  in  dispute.  Kansas  was  the  only  region  to 
which  it  had  any  practical  application ;  and  we,  who  were  re 
siding  there,  read  the  debates  with  peculiar  interest. 

"No  such  war  of  intellects,  on  the  rostrum,  was  ever  wit 
nessed  in  America.  Entirely  without  general  culture,  more 
ignorant  of  books  than  any  other  public  man  of  his  day, 
Douglas  was  christened  the  Little  Giant  by  the  unerring  popu 
lar  instinct.  He  who  without  the  learning  of  the  schools,  and 
without  preparation,  could  cope  with  Webster,  Seward,  and 
Sumner,  surely  deserved  that  appellation.  He  despised  study. 
Kising  after  one  of  Mr.  Sumner's  most  scholarly  and  elaborate 
speeches,  he  said :  '  Mr.  President,  this  is  very  elegant  and 
able,  but  we  all  know  perfectly  well  that  the  Massachusetts 
Senator  has  been  rehearsing  it  every  night  for  a  month,  before 
a  looking-glass,  with  a  negro  holding  a  candle.1 

"  Douglas  was  beyond  all  cotemporaries  a  man  of  the  people, 
and  the  people  loved  him.  Lincoln,  too,  was  distinctively  of 
the  masses ;  but  he  represented  their  sober  second  thought, 
their  higher  aspirations,  their  better  possibilities.  Douglas 
embodied  their  average  impulses,  both  good  and  bad.  Better 
than  any  one  else  he  knew  the  residents  of  the  Northwest 
down  to  their  minutest  sympathies  and  prejudices.  Upon  the 
stump,  his  fluency,  his  hard  common  sense,  and  his  wonderful 
voice,  which  could  thunder  like  the  cataract  or  whisper  with 
the  breeze,  enabled  him  to  sway  them  at  his  will. 

"  Hitherto  invincible  at  home,  he  found  a  foeman  worthy  of 
his  steel.  All  over  the  country  people  began  to  ask  about  this 
'Honest  Abe  Lincoln,'  whose  inexhaustible  anecdotes  were  so 


120  THE  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

droll  yet  so  exactly  to  the  point ;  whose  logic  was  so  irresisti 
ble  ;  whose  modesty,  fairness  and  personal  integrity  won  golden 
opinions  from  his  political  enemies;  who,  without  ' trimming,' 
enjoyed  the  support  of  the  many-headed  Opposition  in  Illinois, 
from  the  Abolition  Owen  Lovejoys  of  the  northern  counties, 
down  to  the  '  Conservative'  old  Whigs  of  the  Egyptian  dis 
tricts,  who  still  believed  in  the  divinity  of  slavery. 

"  Those  who  did  not  witness  it  will  never  comprehend  the 
universal  and  intense  horror  at  every  thing  looking  toward 
'  negro  equality'  which  then  prevailed  in  southern  Illinois. 
Republican  politicians  succumbed  to  it.  In  their  journals  and 
platforms  they  sometimes  said  distinctly  :  '  We  care  nothing  for 
the  negro.  We  advocate  his  exclusion  from  our  State.  We 
oppose  slavery  in  the  territories  only  because  it  is  a  curse  to 
the  white  man.'  Mr.  Lincoln  never  descended  to  this  level. 
In  his  plain,  moderate,  conciliatory  way,  he  would  urge  upon 
his  simple  auditors  that  this  matter  has  a  right  and  a  wrong — 
that  the  great  declaration  of  their  fathers  meant  something. 
And — always  his  strong  point — he  would  put  this  so  clearly 
to  the  common  apprehension,  and  so  touch  the  people's  moral 
sense,  that  his  opponents  found  their  old  cries  of  'Abolitionist' 
and  '  Negro-Avorshipper'  hollow  and  powerless. 

"  His  defeat,  by  a  very  slight  majority,  proved  victory  in  dis 
guise.  The  debates  gave  him  national  reputation.  Republi 
can  Executive  Committees  in  other  States  issued  verbatim 
reports  of  the  speeches  of  both  Douglas  and  Lincoln  bound  up 
together  in  the  order  of  their  delivery.  They  printed  them 
just  as  they  stood,  without  one  word  of  comment,  as  the  most 
convincing  plea  for  their  cause.  Rarely,  if  ever,  has  any 
man  received  so  high  a  compliment  as  was  thus  paid  to  Mr. 
Lincoln. 

"  In  Kansas  his  stories  began  to  stick  like  chestnut  burrs  in 
the  popular  ear — to  pass  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  from  cabin 
to  cabin.  The  young  lawyers,  physicians,  and  other  politicians 
who  swarm  in  the  new  country,  began  to  quote  from  his  argu- 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON    THE    STUMP."  121 

merits  in  their  public  speeches,  and  to  regard  him  as  the 
special  champion  of  their  political  faith. 

"Late  in  the  autumn  of  1859,  he  visited  the  territory  for  the 
first  and  last  time.  With  the  Hon.  Marcus  J.  Parrot,  then 
Delegate  in  Congress,  and  the  Hon.  A.  Carter  Wilder,  present 
Kepresentative,  I  went  to  Troy,  in  Doniphan  county,  to  hear 
him.  In  the  imaginative  language  of  the  frontier,  Troy 
was  a  'town' — possibly  a  city.  But,  save  a  shabby  frame 
court-house,  a  tavern,  and  a  few  shanties,  its  urban  glories  were 
visible  only  to  the  eye  of  faith.  It  was  intensely  cold.  The 
sweeping  prairie  wind  rocked  the  crazy  buildings,  and  cut  the 
faces  of  travellers  like  a  knife.  Mr.  Wilder  froze  his  hand 
during  our  ride,  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  party  arrived  wrapped  in 
buffalo  robes. 

"Not  more  than  forty  people  assembled  in  that  little,  bare- 
walled  court-house.  There  was  none  of  the  magnetism  of  a 
multitude  to  inspire  the  long,  angular,  ungainly  orator,  who 
rose  up  behind  a  rough  table.  With  little  gesticulation,  and 
that  little  ungraceful,  he  began,  not  to  declaim,  but  to  talk. 
In  a  conversational  tone,  he  argued  the  question  of  slavery  in 
the  territories,  in  the  language  of  an  average  Ohio  or  New 
York  farmer.  I  thought,  'If  the  Illinoisans  consider  this  a 
great  man,  their  ideas  must  be  very  peculiar.' 

"  But  in  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  I  was  unconsciously  and  irre 
sistibly  drawn  by  the  clearness  and  closeness  of  his  argument. 
Link  after  link  it  was  forged  and  welded  like  a  blacksmith's 
chain.  He  made  few  assertions,  but  merely  asked  questions : 
1  Is  not  this  true  ?  If  you  admit  that  fact,  is  not  this  induction 
correct  ?'  Give  him  his  premises,  and  his  conclusion  were  in 
evitable  as  death. 

"His  fairness  and  candor  were  very  noticeable.  He  ridi 
culed  nothing,  burlesqued  nothing,  misrepresented  nothing. 
So  far  from  distorting  the  views  held  by  Mr  Douglas  and  his 
adherents,  he  stated  them  with  more  strength  probably  than 
any  one  of  their  advocates  could  have  done.  Then,  very 


122  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

modestly  and  courteously,  lie  inquired  into  their  soundness. 
He  was  too  kind  for  bitterness  and  too  great  for  vituperation. 

"His  anecdotes,  of  course,  were  felicitous  and  illustrative. 
He  delineated  the  tortuous  windings  of  the  Democracy  upon 
the  slavery  question,  from  Thomas  Jefferson  down  to  Franklin 
Pierce.  Whenever  he  heard  a  man  avow  his  determination  to 
adhere  unswervingly  to  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party 
it  reminded  him,  he  said,  of  a  '  little  incident'  in  Illinois.  A 
lad,  plowing  upon  the  prairie,  asked  his  father  in  what  direc 
tion  he  should  strike  a  new  furrow.  The  parent  replied,  '  Steer 
for  that  yoke  of  oxen,  standing  at  the  further  end  of  the  field.' 
The  father  went  away,  and  the  lad  obeyed.  But  just  as  he 
started,  the  oxen  started  also.  He  kept  steering  for  them ;  and 
they  continued  to  walk.  He  followed  them  entirely  around 
the  field,  and  came  back  to  the  starting  point,  having  furrowed 
a  circle  instead  of  a  line. 

"  The  address  lasted  for  an  hour  and  three  quarters.  Neither 
rhetorical,  graceful,  nor  eloquent,  it  was  still  very  fascinating. 
The  people  of  the  frontier  believe  profoundly  in  fair  play,  and 
in  hearing  both  sides.  So  they  now  called  for  an  aged  ex- 
Kentuckian,  who  was  the  heaviest  slaveholder  in  the  Territory. 
Eesponding,  he  thus  prefaced  his  remarks:  'I  have  heard, 
during  my  life,  all  the  ablest  public  speakers — all  the  eminent 
statesmen  of  the  past  and  the  present  generation.  And  while 
I  dissent  utterly  from  the  doctrines  of  this  address,  and  shall 
endeavor  to  refute  some  of  them,  candor  compels  me  to  say 
that  it  is  the  most  able  and  the  most  logical  speech  I  ever  lis 
tened  to.' " 

A  good  story  is  told  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  connection 
with  the  Harper's  Ferry  affair.  It  is  said  that  when  he 
first  heard  of  the  Harper's  Ferry  invasion,  he  remarked, 
that  it  was  "  a  shocking  and  lamentable  occurrence;" 
but  foreseeing  the  capital  which  the  Democracy  would 
make  out  of  it,  he  added,  "  I  do  not  think  the  Democ- 


IN    CONGRESS   AND    UON   THE   STUMP."  123 

racy  can  cross  the  river  of  their  difficulties  at  Harper's 
Ferry." 

We  subjoin  another  amusing  one  from  a  Chicago 
journal : 

"A  great  deal  of  fun  was  liad  by  the  jokers  in  Springfield, 
about  an  affair  in  which,  long  time  ago,  our  good  friend 
Lincoln,  the  candidate  for  the  Presidency  was  engaged.  A 
young  lady  of  that  city,  now  the  wife  of  a  distinguished  states 
man,  wrote  a  paragraph  in  a  burlesque  vein,  for  the  Sangamon 
Journal,  in  which  General  Shields  was  good  humoredly  ridi 
culed  for  his  connection  with  some  public  measure.  The 
General  was  greatly  incensed,  and  demanded  of  the  editor  the 
name  of  the  offending  party.  'Old  Sim'  put  him  off  with 
a  request  of  twenty-four  hours  to  consider  the  matter,  and 
shortly  afterward  meeting  Lincoln,  told  him  his  perplexity. 
1  Tell  him  I  wrote  it,'  said  Lincoln ;  and  tell  him  he  did.  After 
a  deal  of  diplomacy  to  get  a  retraction  of  the  offensive  parts  of 
the  paragraph  in  question,  Shields  sent  a  challenge,  which 
Lincoln  accepted,  named  broadswords  as  the  weapons,  and 
an  unfrequented,  well-wooded  island  in  the  Mississippi,  just 
below  Alton,  .is  the  place.  '  Old  Abe'  was  first  on  the  ground, 
and  when  Shields  arrived,  he  found  his  antagonist,  his  sword 
in  one  hand  and  a  hatchet  in  the  other,  with  his  coat  off, 
clearing  away  the  underbrush !  Before  the  preliminary  arrange 
ments  were  completed,  John  J.  Hardin,  who,  somehow,  had  got 
wind  of  what  was  afloat,  appeared  on  the  scene,  called  them  both 

d d  fools,  and  by  his  arguments,  addressed  to  their  common 

sense,  and  by  his  ridicule  of  the  figure  that  they,  two  well-grown, 
bearded  men,  were  making  there,  each  with  a  frog-sticker  in  his 
hand,  broke  up  the  fight.  We  do  not  know  how  General  Shields 
feels,  but  we  have  heard  of  Lincoln's  saying,  that  the  acceptance 
of  the  challenge  was  the  meanest  thing  he  ever  did  in  his  life. 
Hardin — than  whom  a  braver  man  rtever  stood — never  came 
out  of  that  terrible  charge  at  Buena  Vista,  t  >  which  he  led  the 
Second  Kegiment  of  Illinois  Volunteers.  If  the  events  of  his 


124  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

life  passed  in  quick  review  before  his  mind,  as  "he  lay  wounded 
and  dying  in  that  fatal  ravine,  we  doubt  not  this  act  of  his,  by 
which  he  prevented  two  really  brave  men  from  engaging  in 
fatal  strife,  was  not  the  least  of  the  consolations  of  that  bitter 
hour." 

Admiration  of  the  manly  bearing  and  gallant  conduct 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  throughout  this  campaign,  which  had 
early  assumed  a  national  importance,  led  to  the  spon 
taneous  suggestion  of  his  name,  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  From  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  the  contest,  he  had  proved  him 
self  an  able  statesman,  an  effective  orator,  a  true 
gentleman,  and  an  honest  man.  While,  therefore, 
Douglas  was  returned  to  the  Senate,  there  was  a  general 
presentiment  that  a  juster  verdict  was  yet  to  be  had, 
and  that  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  cause  would  be  ultimately 
vindicated  before  the  people.  That  time  was  to  come, 
even  sooner,  perhaps,  than  his  friends,  in  their  moment 
ary  despondency,  had  expected,  and  from  that  hour  to  the 
present,  the  fame  of  Abraham  Lincoln  has  been  enlarg 
ing  and  ripening,  and  admiration  of  his  noble  character 
has  become  still  more  deeply  fixed  in  the  popular  heart. 

During  the  year  following  this  great  contest  with 
Douglas,  Mr.  Lincoln  again  gave  himself  almost  ex 
clusively  to  professional  life.  During  the  autumn,  how 
ever,  of  1859,  when  Mr.  Douglas  visited  Ohio,  and 
endeavored  to  rally  the  Democracy  of  that  State,  an 
earnest  invitation  was  sent  to  Mr.  Lincoln  to  assist  the 
Republicans  in  their  canvass.  In  compliance  with  this 
Macedonian  appeal  for  help,  he  delivered  two  most 
effective  speeches  in  Ohio,  one  at  Columbus,  and  the 
other  at  Cincinnati.  The  following  extracts  from  the 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON   THE    STUMP."  125 

latter  speech  (September  17th)  are  interesting  as  ex 
pressing  his  convictions  concerning  the  great  issues  of 
the  day,  and  as  characteristic  of  his  familiar  style  of 
public  address. 

SHOOTING   OVER   THE   LINE. 

"  It  has  occurred  to  me  here  to-night,  that  if  I  ever  do  shoot 
over  at  the  people  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  in  a  slave  State, 
and  purpose  to  do  so,  keeping  my  skin  safe,  that  I  have  now 
about  the  best  chance  I  shall  ever  have.  [Laughter  and 
applause.]  I  should  not  wonder  if  there  are  some  Kentuckians 
about  this  audience ;  we  are  close  to  Kentucky ;  and  whether 
that  be  so  or  not,  we  are  on  elevated  ground,  and  by  speaking 
distinctly,  I  should  not  wonder  if  some  of  the  Kentuckians 
should  hear  me  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  [Laughter.] 
For  that  reason  I  propose  to  address  a  portion  of  what  I  have 
to  say  to  the  Kentuckians. 

"  I  say,  then,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  Kentuckians,  that  I  am 
what  they  call,  as  I  understand  it,  a  'Black  Eepublican.' 
[Applause  and  laughter.]  I  think  that  slavery  is  wrong, 
morally,  socially  and  politically.  I  desire  that  it  should  be  no 
further  spread  in  these  United  States,  and  I  should  not  object 
if  it  should  gradually  terminate  in  the  whole  Union.  [Ap 
plause.]  While  I  say  this  for  myself,  I  say  to  you,  Ken 
tuckians,  that  I  understand  that  you  differ  radically  with  me 
upon  this  proposition;  that  you  believe  slavery  is  a  good 
thing ;  that  slavery  is  right ;  that  it  ought  to  be  extended  and 
perpetuated  in  this  Union.  Now,  there  being  this  broad  differ 
ence  between  us,  I  do  not  pretend  in  addressing  myself  to  you, 
Kentuckians,  to  attempt  proselyting  you  at  all ;  that  wo  aid  be 
a  vain  effort.  I  do  not  enter  upon  it.  I  only  propose  to  try 
to  show  you  that  you  ought  to  nominate  for  the  next  Presi 
dency,  at  Charleston,  my  distinguished  friend,  Judge  Douglas. 
[Applause.]  In  whatever  there  is  a  difference  between  you 


126  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  him,  I  understand  lie  is  as  sincerely  for  yon,  and  more 
wisely  for  yon,  than  yon  are  for  yourselves.  [Applause.]  I 
will  try  to  demonstrate  that  proposition.  Understand,  now, 
I  say  that  I  believe  he  is  as  sincerely  for  you,  and  more  wisely 
for  yon,  than  yon  are  for  yourselves." 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  went  on  to  show  that  Douglas  was 
constantly  endeavoring  to  "mould  the  public  opinion 
of  the  North  to  the  ends"  desired  by  the  South ;  that 
he  differed  only  from  the  South  so  far  as  was  necessary 
to  retain  any  hold  upon  his  own  section;  that,  not 
daring  to  maintain  that  slavery  was  right,  he  professes 
an  indifference  whether  it  was  "  voted  up  or  voted 
down" — thus  indirectly  advancing  the  opinion  that  it 
was  not  wrong;  and  that  he  had  taken  a  step  in  ad 
vance,  by  doing  what  would  not  have  been  thought  of 
by  any  man  five  years  ago ;  by  denying  that  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  asserts  any  principle  in 
tended  to  be  applicable  to  black  men,  or  that  properly 
includes  them.  The  tendency  of  this  charge  was  "to 
bring  the  public  mind  to  the  conclusion  that  when  men 
are  spoken  of,  the  negro  is  not  meant ;  that  when  ne 
groes  are  spoken  of,  brutes  alone  are  contemplated." 

Of  the  certainty  of  a  speedy  Kepublican  triumph  in 
the  nation,  and  of  its  results,  Mr.  Lincoln  said : 

WHAT    THE    OPPOSITION   MEAN    TO   DO. 

"  I  will  tell  you,  so  far  as  I  am  authorized  to  speak  for  the 
Opposition,  what  we  mean  to  do  with  you.  We  mean  to  treat 
you,  as  nearly  as  we  possibly  can,  as  Washington,  Jefferson, 
and  Madison  treated  you.  [Cheers.]  We  mean  to  leave  you 
alone,  and  in  no  way  to  interfere  with  your  institution  ;  to  abide 
by  all  and  every  compromise  of  the  constitution — and,  in  a 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "Orf   THE    STUMP."  127 

word,  coming  back  to  the  original  proposition,  to  treat  you,  so 
far  as  degenerated  men  (if  we  have  degenerated)  may,  imitating 
the  examples  of  those  noble  fathers,  Washington,  Jefferson,  and 
Madison.  [Applause.]  We  mean  to  rejnember  that  you  are  as 
good  as  we ;  that  there  is  no  difference  between  us  other  than 
the  difference  of  circumstances.  We  mean  to  recognize  and 
bear  in  mind  always  that  you  have  as  good  hearts  in  your 
bosoms  as  other  people,  or  as  we  claim  to  have,  and  treat  you 
accordingly.  We  mean  to  marry  your  girls  when  we  have  a 
chance — the  white  ones  I  mean — [Laughter] — and  I  have  the 
honor  to  inform  you  that  I  once  did  get  a  chance  in  that  way. 
[A  voice,  '  Good  for  you,'  and  applause.]" 

PLAIN  QUESTIONS  TO  THE  DISUNION  DEMOCRACY. 

"  I  have  told  you  what  we  mean  to  do.  I  want  to  know, 
now,  when  that  thing  takes  place,  what  you  mean  to  do.  I 
often  hear  it  intimated  that  you  mean  to  divide  the  Union 
whenever  a  Republican,  or  any  thing  like  it,  is  elected  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  [A  voice,  'That  is  so.']  'That  is 
so,'  one  of  them  says.  I  wonder  if  he  is  a  Kentuckian  ?  [A 
voice,  '  He  is  a  Douglas  man.']  Well,  then,  1  want  to  know 
what  you  are  going  to  do  with  your  half  of  it  ?  [Applause 
and  laughter.]  Are  you  going  to  split  the  Ohio  down  through, 
and  push  your  half  off  a-piece  ?  or  are  you  going  to  keep  it 
right  alongside  of  us  outrageous  fellows  ?  Or,  are  you  going 
to  build  up  a  wall  someway  between  your  country  and  ours, 
by  which  that  movable  property  of  yours  can't  come  over  here 
any  more,  and  you  lose  it  ?  Do  you  think  you  can  better  your 
selves  on  that  subject,  by  leaving  us  here  under  no  obligation 
whatever  to  return  those  specimens  of  your  movable  property 
that  come  hither  ?  You  have  divided  the  Union  because  we 
would  not  do  right  with  you,  as  you  think,  upon  that  subject. 
When  we  cease  to  be  under  obligations  to  do  any  thing  for 
you,  how  much  better  off  do  you  think  you  will  be  ?  Will 
you  make  war  upon  us,  and  kill  us  all  ?  Why,  gentlemen,  I 


128  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

think  you  are  as  gallant  and  as  brave  men  as  live  ;  that  you 
can  fight  as  bravely  in  a  good  cause,  man  for  man,  as  any  other 
people  living ;  that  you  have  shown  yourselves  capable  of  this 
upon  various  occasions  -f  but,  man  for  man,  you  are  not  better 
than  we  are,  and  there  are  not  so  many  of  you  as  there  are  of 
us.  [Loud  cheering.]  You  will  never  make  much  of  a  hand 
at  whipping  us.  If  we  were  fewer  in  numbers  than  you,  I 
think  that  you  could  whip  us  ;  if  we  were  equal,  it  would  likely 
be  a  drawn  battle ;  but  being  inferior  in  numbers,  you  will 
make  nothing  by  attempting  to  master  us." 

WHAT    REPUBLICANS    MUST    DO. 

"  I  say  that  we  must  not  interfere  with  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists,  because  the  Constitution 
forbids  it,  and  the  general  welfare  does  not  require  us  to  do  so. 
We  must  not  withhold  an  efficient  fugitive  slave  law,  because 
the  Constitution  requires  us,  as  I  understand  it,  not  to  withhold 
such  a  law,  but  we  must  prevent  the  outspreading  of  the  insti 
tution,  because  neither  the  Constitution  nor  the  general  welfare 
requires  us  to  extend  it.  We  must  prevent  the  revival  of  the 
African  slave  trade,  and  the  enacting  by  Congress  of  a  Terri 
torial  slave  code.  We  must  prevent  each  of  these  things  being 
done  by  either  congresses  or  courts.  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THESE 
UNITED  STATES  ARE  THE  RIGHTFUL  MASTERS  OF  BOTH  CON 
GRESSES  AND  COURTS  [applause],  not  to  overthrow  the  Consti 
tution,  but  to  overthrow  the  men  who  pervert  that  Constitution. 
[Applause.]" 

From  a  chapter  of  Personal  Reminiscences  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  by  the  Rev.  M.  D.  Conway,  lately  published  in 
the  Fortnightly  Review,  of  London,  we  extract  the  fol 
lowing  graphic  description  of  this  Cincinnati  speech : 

"It  was  during  this  memorable  political  struggle,  which 
presently  led  the  champions  to  address  public  meetings  far 
beyond  the  limits  of  their  State,  that  I  first  saw  and  heard 


IN   CONGRESS   AND   "  ON   THE   STUMP."  129 

Abraham  Lincoln.  It  was  at  Cincinnati,  in  the  State  of  Ohio, 
an  important  point  as  being  at  the  very  centre  of  the  country, 
and  on  the  line  separating  the  free,  from  the  slave  States. 
Across  the  Ohio  river,  narrower  than  the  Thames,  rise  the 
hills  of  Kentucky,  and  one  may  (or  could)  stand  in  the  streets 
of  Cincinnati  and  see  slaves  at  their  work.  From  the  towns 
of  Newport  and  Covington,  on  the  Kentucky  side,  hundreds 
of  persons  were  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  the  political  meet 
ings  of  the  city,  or  to  witness  the  performances  of  their  favorite 
actors,  among  whom  may  have  been  Wilkes  Booth.  To  the 
great  delight  of  the  Kentuckians,  and  of  the  Democracy, 
so-called,  Mr.  Douglas  had  delivered  a  public  address  there 
advocating  what  he  used  to  call  his  'gur-reat  per-rinciple'  that 
the  newborn  Territories  should  be  allowed  to  arrange  their 
own  institutions — and  especially  to  introduce  or  exclude 
slavery — as  freely  as  full-grown  States.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  soon 
after  invited  to  the  city.  The  meeting  was  in  a  large  public 
square,  and  two  or  three  thousands  of  persons  were  present, 
possibly  more,  to  hear  this  new  man.  Party  feeling  was  run 
ning  very  high,  and  there  were  adverse  parties  in  the  crowd 
who  had  come  with  the  intention  of  disturbing  the  meeting. 
Mr.  Lincoln  appeared  on  a  balcony  in  the  clear  moonlight,  and 
without  paying  the  slighest  attention  to  the  perturbations  of 
the  multitude,  began  his  address.  I  had  at  first  paused  on  the 
skirts  of  the  crowd,  meaning  to  leave  soon ;  but  an  indefinable 
something  in  the  tones  of  the  man's  voice  induced  me  to  go 
closer.  Surely  if  there  were  to  be  chosen  a  figure-head  for 
America  it  must  be  this !  There  was  something  undeniably 
grotesque  about  the  face,  and  yet  not  a  coarse  line ;  it  was 
battered  and  bronzed,  but  the  light  of  an  eye,  both  gentle  and 
fiery,  kept  it  from  being  hard.  The  nose  was  a  good  strong 
buttress — such  as  Bonaparte  would  have  valued — to  a  solid 
brow;  and  the  forehead  rose  to  its  greatest  height  in  the 
region  assigned  to  the  benevolent  and  the  conscientious  organs, 
declining  along  those  of  firmness  and  self-esteem  into  what  I 
9 


130  'THE  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

should  "call  a  decidedly  feeble  occiput.  But  never  was  there 
a  case  in  which  the  sage's  request — '  Speak,  that  I  may  see 
you' — had  more  need  to  be  repeated ;  for  a  voice  more  flexi 
ble,  more  attuned  to  every  kind  of  expression,  and  to  carry 
truth  in  every  tone,  was  -never  allotted  to  mortal.  Although 
he  seemed  to  me  oddly  different  from  any  other  man  whom  I 
had  seen,  he  seemed  also  related  to  them  all,  and  to  have 
lineaments  characteristic  of  every  section  of  the  country ;  and 
this  is  why  I  thought  he  might  well  be  taken  as  its  figure 
head.  His  manner  of  speaking  in  public  was  simple,  direct, 
and  almost  religious;  he  was  occasionally  humorous,  but 
rarely  told  anecdotes  as  he  did  in  private  conversation ;  and 
there  was  no  sarcasm,  no  showing  of  the  teeth.  I  had  not  lis 
tened  to  him  long,  on  the  occasion  to  which  I  refer,  before  I 
perceived  that  there  was  a  certain  artistic  ability  in  him  as  a 
public  speaker,  which  his  audience  would  least  recognize  when 
it  was  most  employed.  Early  in  the  address  some  adverse 
allusion  to  slavery  brought  a  surge  of  hisses,  but  when  it 
broke  at  his  feet,  there  was  the  play  of  a  faint  smile  on  his 
face  as  he  gathered  from  it  the  important  knowledge  of  the 
exact  proportion  of  Kentucky  which  he  had  to  deal  with  on  the 
occasion.  I  have  often  wondered  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  power  as 
an  orator — surpassed  as  it  is  by  that  of  only  one  other 
American — is  so  little  known  or  thought  of  in  Europe ;  and  I 
have  even  found  the  impression  that  he  was,  as  a  speaker, 
awkward,  heavy  and  ungrammatical.  It  is  a  singular  misjudg- 
ment.  For  terse,  well-pronounced,  clear  speech ;  for  a  careful 
and  easy  selection  of  the  fit  word  for  the  right  place ;  for 
perfect  tones;  for  quiet,  chaste,  and  dignified  manner — it 
would  be  hard  to  find  the  late  President's  superior.  In  those 
days  it  was,  when  slavery  was  concerned,  '  a  kind  of  good  deed 
to  say  well,'  and  sufficiently  proved  the  man  who,  when  the 
public  meeting  must  give  way  to  the  camp, 

'  With  his  deed  did  crown, 
His  word  upon  you.' 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "OX    THE    STUMP."  131 

"He  had  said,  with  an  emphasis  which  made  the  proposition 
seem  novel,  '  Slavery  is  WRONG  !' — then  came  the  hiss.  After  a 
moment's  pause  he  continued — each  word  driven  through  and 
clenched — '  I  acknowledge  that  you  must  maintain  your  oppo 
sition  just  there,  if  at  all.  But  I  find  that  every  man  comes 
into  the  world  with  a  mouth  to  be  fed,  and  a  back  to  be  clothed ; 
that  each  has  also  two  hands ;  and  I  infer  that  those  hands  were 
meant  to  feed  that  mouth  and  to  clothe  that  back.  And  I  warn 
you,  Kentuckians,  that  whatever  institution  would  fetter  those 
hands  from  so  doing,  violates  that  justice  which  is  the  only 
political  wisdom,  and  is  sure  to  crumble  around  those  who  seek 
to  uphold  it.  This  is  the  constant  testimony  of  the  men  who 
founded  this  Republic.  It  was  this  that  made  Jefferson  tremble 
for  his  country,  when  he  remembered  that  God  is  just ;  and 
this  that  made  your  own  great  statesman,  Henry  Clay;  pray 
that  his  tongue  might  cleave  to  the  roof  of  his  mouth  ere  it 
voted  to  carry  slavery  into  any  Territory  where  it  did  not  exist. 
Your  hisses  will  not  blow  down  the  walls  of  Justice.  Slavery 
is  wrong.  The  denial  of  that  truth  has  brought  on  the  angry 
conflict  of  brother  with  brother ;  it  has  kindled  the  fires  of 
civil  war  in  Kansas  ;  it  has  raised  the  portents  that  overhang 
the  future  of  our  nation.  And  be  you  sure,  that  no  compro 
mise,  no  political  arrangement  with  slavery,  will  ever  last,  which 
does  not  deal  with  it  as  A  GREAT  WRONG.'  The  Kentuckians 
had  no  sibilant  arguments  to  bring  forward  now.  How  much 
more  serious  Mr.  Lincoln  was  than  the  mass  of  his  party  in 
these  views,  may  be  estimated  by  the  fact,  that  when  his 
speeches,  with  those  of  Judge  Douglas,  were  afterwards  col 
lected  for  circulation  as  a  campaign  document,  it  was  thought 
prudent  to  omit  the  above  passage,  which  I  noted  down  at  the 
time,  and  probably  others  of  similar  import." 

In  the  spring  of  I860,  Mr.  Lincoln  yielded  to  the 
calls  which  came  to  him  from  the  East,  for  his  presence 
and  aid  in  the  exciting  political  canvasses  there  going 


132  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

on.  He  'spoke  at  various  places  in  Connecticut,  New 
Hampshire,,  and  Khode  Island,  and  also  in  New  York 
city,  to  very  large  audiences,  and  was  everywhere 
warmly  welcomed.  Perhaps  one  of  the  greatest 
speeches  of  his  life,  was  that  delivered  by  him  at  the 
Cooper  Institute,  in  New  York,  on  the  27th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1860.  A  crowded  audience  was  present,  which 
received  Mr.  Lincoln  with  enthusiastic  demonstrations. 
William  Cullen  Bryant  presided,  and  introduced  the 
speaker  in  terms  of  high  compliment  to  the  West,  and 
to  the  "  eminent  citizen"  of  that  section,  whose  political 
labors  in  1856  and  '58  were  appropriately  eulogized. 

THE   COOPER   INSTITUTE   SPEECH. 

"MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  NEW  YORK: — 
The  facts  with,  which  I  shall  deal  this  evening  are  mainly  old 
and  familiar ;  nor  is  there  any  thing  new.  in  the  general  use  I 
shall  make  of  them.  If  there  shall  be  any  novelty,  it  will  be 
in  the  mode  of  presenting  the  facts,  and  the  inferences  and 
observations  following  that  presentation. 

"  In  his  speech  last  autumn,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  as  reported 
in  The  New  York  Times,  Senator  Douglas  said : 

"'Our  fathers,  when  they  framed  the  Government  under 
which  we  live,  understood  this  question  just  as  well,  and  even 
better  than  we  do  now.' 

"I  fully  indorse  this,  and  I  adopt  it  as  a  text  for  this  dis-j 
course.  I  so  adopt  it  because  it  furnishes  a  precise  and  agreed 
starting  point  for  the  discussion  between  Kepublicans  and  thaljj 
wing  of  the  Democracy  headed  by  Senator  Douglas.  It  simply 
leaves  the  inquiry :  '  What  was  the  understanding  those  fathers 
had  of  the  questions  mentioned  ?' 

"  What  is  the  frame  of  Government  under  which  we  live  ? 

"The  answer  must  be:   'The  Constitution   of  the   United 


IN  CONGRESS   AND    "ON   THE   STUMP/'  133 

States.'  That  Constitution  consists  of  the  original,  framed  in 
1787  (and  under  which  the  present  Government  first  went  into 
"operation),  and  twelve  subsequently  framed  amendments,  the 
first  ten  of  which  were  framed  in  1789. 

"Who  were  our  fathers  that  framed  the  Constitution?  I 
suppose  the  'thirty-nine'  who  signed  the  original  instrument 
may  be  fairly  called  our  fathers  who  framed  that  part  of  the 
present  Government.  It  is  almost  exactly  true  to  say  they 
framed  it,  and  it  is  altogether  true  to  say  they  fairly  represented 
the  opinion  and  sentiment  of  the  whole  nation  at  that  time. 
Their  names  being  familiar  to  nearly  all,  and  accessible  to 
quite  all,  need  not  now  be  repeated. 

"I  take  these  ' thirty-nine,'  for  the  present,  as  being  'our 
fathers  who  framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live.' 

"  What  is  the  question  which,  according  to  the  text,  those 
fathers  understood  just  as  well,  and  even  better  than  we  do 
now? 

"It  is  this:  Does  the  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal 
authority,  or  any  thing  in  the  Constitution,  forbid  our  Federal 
Government  control  as  to  slavery  in  our  Federal  Territories  ? 

"  Upon  this,  Douglas  holds  the  affirmative,  and  Eepublicans 
the  negative.  The  affirmative  and  denial  form  an  issue ;  and 
this  issue — this  question — is  precisely  what  the  text  declares 
our  fathers  understood  better  than  we 

"  Let  us  now  inquire  whether  the  '  thirty-nine,'  or  any  of 
them,  ever  acted  upon  this  question ;  and  if  they  did,  how  they 
acted  upon  it — how  they  expressed  that  better  understanding. 

"In  1784 — three  years  before  the  Constitution — the  United 
States  then  owning  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  no  other — 
the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  had  before  them  the  question 
of  prohibiting  slavery  in  that  Territory ;  and  four  of  the  '  thirty- 
nine'  who  afterward  framed  the  Constitution  were  in  that  Con 
gress,  and  voted  on  that  question.  Of  these,  Eoger  Sherman, 
Thomas  Mifflin,  and  Hugh  Williamson  voted  for  the  pro 
hibition — thus  showing  that,  in  their  understanding,  no  line 


134  THE   LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

dividing  local  from  federal  authority,  nor  any  thing  else,  prop- 
erly  forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to  slavery 
in  federal  territory.  The  other  of  the  four — James  McHenry — •  " 
voted  against  the  prohibition,  showing  that,  for  some  cause,  he 
thought  it  improper  to  vote  for  it. 

"In  1787,  still  before  the  Constitution,  but  while  the  Con 
vention  was  in  session  framing  it,  and  while  the  Northwestern 
Territory  still  was  the  only  Territory  owned  by  the  United 
States — the  same  question  of  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  Territory 
again  came  before  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  ;  and  three 
more  of  the  '  thirty-nine'  who  afterward  signed  the  Constitution, 
were  in  that  Congress,  and  voted  on  the  question.  They  were 
"William  Blount,  William  Few,  and  Abraham  Baldwin  ;  and 
they  all  voted  for  the  prohibition — thus  showing  that,  in  their 
understanding,  no  line  dividing  local  from  Federal  authority, 
nor  any  thing  else,  properly  forbids  the  Federal  Government  to 
control  as  to  slavery  in  Federal  territory.  This  time  the  pro 
hibition  became  a  law,  being  part  of  what  is  now  well  known 
as  the  Ordinance  of  '87. 

"  The  question  of  federal  control  of  slavery  in  the  Territories, 
seems  not  to  have  been  directly  before  the  Convention  which 
framed  the  original  Constitution  ;  and  hence  it  is  not  recorded 
that  the  '  thirty -nine,'  or  any  of  them,  while  engaged  on  that 
instrument,  expressed  any  opinion  on  that  precise  question. 

"  In  1789,  by  the  first  Congress  which  sat  under  the  Con 
stitution,  an  act  was  passed  to  enforce  the  Ordinance  of  '87 
including  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  Northwestern  Terri 
tory.  The  bill  for  this  act  was  reported  by  one  of  the  '  thirty- 
nine,'  Thomas  Fitzsimmons,  then  a  member  of  the  House  of 
.Representatives  from  Pennsylvania.  It  went  through  all  its 
stages  without  a  word  of  opposition,  and  finally  passed  both 
branches  without  yeas  and  nays,  which  is  equivalent  to  an 
unanimous  passage.  In  this  Congress  there  were  sixteen  of 
the  '  thirty-nine'  fathers  who  framed  the  original  Constitution. 
They  were  John  Langdon,  Nicholas  Gilman,  Wm.  S.  Johnson, 


IX   CONGRESS   AND   "ON   THE   STUMP.  135 

Eoger  Sherman,  Eobert  Morris,  Thos.  Fitzsimmons,  William 
Few,  Abraham  Baldwin,  Eufus  King,  William  Patterson, 
George  Clymer,  Kichard  Bassett,  George  Kead;  Pierce  Butler, 
Daniel  Carrol,  James  Madison. 

"  This  shows  that,  in  their  understanding,  no  line  dividing 
local  from  federal  authority,  nor  any  thing  in  the  Constitution, 
properly  forbade  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Federal 
territory ;  else  both  their  fidelity  to  correct  principle,  and  their 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  would  have  constrained  them 
to  oppose  the  prohibition. 

"Again,  George  Washington,  another  of  the  'thirty-nine,' 
was  then  President  of  the  United  States,  and,  as  such,  approved 
and  signed  the  bill,  thus  completing  its  validity  as  a  law,  and 
thus  showing  that,  in  his  understanding,  no  line  dividing  local 
from  Federal  authority,  nor  any  thing  in  the  Constitution,  for 
bade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  Federal 
territory. 

"No  great  while  after  the  adoption  of  the  original  Constitu 
tion,  North  Carolina  ceded  to  the  Federal  Government  the 
country  now  constituting  the  State  of  Tennessee;  and  a  few- 
years  later  Georgia  ceded  that  which  now  constitutes  the  States 
of  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  In  both  deeds  of  cession  it  was 
made  a  condition  by  the  ceding  States  that  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  should  not  prohibit  slavery  in  the  ceded  country. 
Besides  this,  slavery  was  then  actually  in  the  ceded  country. 
Under  these  circumstances,  Congress,  on  taking  charge  of  these 
countries  did  not  absolutely  prohibit  slavery  within  them.  But 
they  did  interfere  with  it — take  control  of  it — even  there,  to  a 
certain  extent.  In  1798,  Congress  organized  the  Territory  of 
Mississippi.  In  the  act  of  organization  they  prohibited  the 
bringing  of  slaves  into  the  Territory,  from  any  place  without  the 
United  States,  by  fine  and  giving  freedom  to  slaves  so  brought. 
This  act  passed  both  branches  of  Congress  without  yeas  and 
nays.  In  that  Congress  were  three  of  the  'thirty-nine'  who 
framed  the  original  Constitution.  They  were  John  Langdon, 


136  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

George  Read,  and  Abraham  Baldwin.  They  all,  probably, 
voted  for  it.  Certainly  they  would  have  placed  their  opposi 
tion  to  it  upon  record,  if,  in  their  understanding,  any  line 
dividing  local  from  Federal  authority,  or  any  thing  in  the  Con 
stitution,  probable  forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control 
as  to  slavery  in  Federal  territory. 

"In  1803,  the  Federal  Government  purchased  the  Louisiana 
country.  Our  former  territorial  acquisitions  came  from  certain 
of  our  own  States ;  but  this  Louisiana  country  was  acquired 
from  a  foreign  nation.  In  1804,  Congress  gave  a  territorial 
organization  to  that  part  of  it  which  now  constitutes  the  State 
of  Louisiana.  New  Orleans,  lying  within  that  part,  was  an  old 
and  comparatively  large  city.  There  were  other  considerable 
towns  and  settlements,  and  slavery  was  extensively  and  thor 
oughly  intermingled  with  the  people.  Congress  did  not,  in 
the  Territorial  Act,  prohibit  slavery ;  but  they  did  interfere 
with  it — take  control  of  it — in  a  more  marked  and  extensive 
way  than  they  did  in  the  case  of  Mississippi.  The  substance 
of  the  provision  therein  made,  in  relation  to  slaves,  was : 

"  First.  That  no  slave  should  be  imported  into  the  Territory 
from  foreign  parts. 

"  Second.  That  no  slave  should  be  carried  into  it  who  had 
been  imported  into  the  United  States  since  the  first  day  of 
May,  1798. 

"  Third.  That  no  slave  should  be  carried  into  it,  except  by 
the  owner,  and  for  his  own  use  as  a  settler;  the  penalty  in  all 
the  cases  being  a  fine  upon  the  violator  of  the  law,  and  freedom 
to  the  slave. 

"  This  act  also  was  passed  without  yeas  and  nays.  In  the 
Congress  which  passed  it,  there  were  two  of  the  '  thirty-nine.' 
They  were  Abraham  Baldwin  and  Jonathan  Dayton.  As 
stated  in  the  case  of  Mississippi,  it  is  probable  they  both  voted 
for  it.  They  would  not  have  allowed  it  to  pass  without  re 
cording  their  opposition  to  it,  if,  in  their  understanding,  it 


IN   CONGRESS   AND   "ON   THE   STUMP."  137 

violated  either  the  line  proper  dividing  local  from  Federal 
authority  or  any  provision  of  the  Constitution. 

"  In  1819-20,  came  and  passed  the  Missouri  question.  Many 
votes  were  taken,  by  yeas  and  nays,  in  both  branches  of  Con 
gress,  upon  the  various  phases  of  the  general  question.  Two 
of  the  '  thirty-nine' — Eufus  King  and  Charles  Pinckney — were 
members  of  that  Congress.  Mr.  King  steadily  voted  for  sla 
very  prohibition  and  against  all  compromises,  while  Mr.  Pin  k- 
ney  as  steadily  voted  against  slavery  prohibition  and  against 
all  compromises.  By  this  Mr.  King  showed  that,  in  his  under 
standing,  no  line  dividing  local  from  Federal  authority,  nor  any 
thing  in  the  Constitution,  was  violated  by  Congress  prohibiting 
slavery  in  Federal  territory ;  while  Mr.  Pinckney,  by  his  votes, 
showed  that  in  his  understanding  there  was  some  sufficient 
reason  for  opposing  such  prohibition  in  that  case. 

"  The  cases  I  have  mentioned  are  the  only  acts  of  the  '  thirty- 
nine,'  or  of  any  of  them,  upon  the  direct  issue,  which  I  have 
been  able  to  discover. 

"  To  enumerate  the  persons  who  thus  acted,  as  being  four  in 
1784,  three  in  1787,  seventeen  in  1789,  three  in  1798,  two  in 
1804,  and  two  in  1819-20 — there  would  be  thirty-one  of  them. 
But  this  would  be  counting  John  Langdon,  Eoger  Sherman, 
"William  Few,  Eufus  King,  and  George  Eead,  each  twice,  and 
Abraham  Baldwin  four  times.  The  true  number  of  those  of 
the  'thirty-nine  whom  I  have  shown  to  have  acted  upon  the 
question,  which,  by  the  text  they  understood  better  than  we, 
is  twenty-three,  leaving  sixteen  not  shown  to  have  acted  upon 
it  in  any  way. 

'•'  Here,  then,  we  have  twenty -three  out  of  our  '  thirty-nine' 
fathers  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live,  who 
have,  upon  their  official  responsibility  and  their  corporal  oaths, 
acted  upon  the  very  question  which  the  text  affirms  they 
'understood  just  as  well,  and  even  better  than  we  do  now;' 
and  twenty-one  of  them — a  clear  majority  of  the  '  thirty-nine' 
— so  acting  upon  it  as  to  make  them  guilty  of  gross  political 


138  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   UNCOLX. 

impropriety,  and  wilful  perjury,  if,  in  their  understanding,  any 
proper  division  between  local  and  Federal  authority,  or  any 
thing  in  the  Constitution  they  had  made  themselves,  and  sworn 
to  support,  forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to 
slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories.  Thus  the  twenty-one  acted  ; 
and,  as  actions  speak  louder  than  words,  so  actions  under  such 
responsibility  speak  still  louder. 

"  Two  of  the  twenty-three  voted  against  Congressional  pro 
hibition  of  slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories,  in  the  instances 
in  which  they  acted  upon  the  question.  But  for  what  reasons 
they  so  voted  is  not  known.  They  may  have  done  so  because 
they  thought  a  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority, 
or  some  provision  or  principle  of  the  Constitution,  stood  in 
the  way ;  or  they  may,  without  any  such  question,  have  voted 
against  the  prohibition,  on  what  appeared  to  them  to  be  suffi 
cient  grounds  of  expediency.  No  one  who  has  sworn  to 
support  the  Constitution,  can  conscientiously  vote  for  what  he 
understands  to  be  an  unconstitutional  measure,  however  ex 
pedient  he  may  think  it;  but  one  may  and  ought  to  vote 
against  a  measure  which  he  deems  constitutional,  if,  at  the 
same  time,  he  deems  it  inexpedient.  It,  therefore,  would  be 
unsafe  to  set  down  even  the  two  who  voted  against  the  prohi 
bition,  as  having  done  so  because,  in  their  understanding,  any 
proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or  any  thing 
in  the  Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal  Goverment  to  control 
as  to  slavery  in  Federal  territory. 

"The  remaining  sixteen  of  the  'thirty-nine,'  so  far  as  I  have 
discovered,  have  left  no  record  of  their  understanding  upon 
the  direct  question  of  Federal  control  of  slavery  in  the  Federal 
territory.  But  there  is  much  reason  to  believe  that  their 
understanding  upon  that  question  would  not  have  appeared 
different  from  that  of  their  twenty -three  compeers,  had  it  been 
manifested  at  all. 

"For  the  purpose  of  adhering  rigidly  to  the  text,  I  have 
purposely  admitted  whatever  understanding  may  have  been 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON   THE   STUMP."  139 

manifested,  by  any  person,  however  distinguished,  other  than 
the  '  thirty-nine'  fathers  who  framed  the  original  Constitution  ; 
and,  for  the  same  reason,  I  have  also  omitted  whatever  under 
standing  may  have  been  manifested  by  any  of  the  '  thirty -nine' 
even,  on  any  other  phase  of  the  general  question  of  slavery. 
If  we  should  look  into  their  acts  and  declarations  on  those 
other  phases,  as  the  foreign  slave-trade,  and  the  morality  and 
policy  of  slavery  generally,  it  would  appear  to  us  that  on  the 
direct  question  of  Federal  control  of  slavery  in  Federal  Terri 
tories,  the  sixteen,  if  they  had  acted  at  all,  would  probably 
have  acted  just  as  the  twenty-three  did.  Among  that  sixteen 
were  several  of  the  most  noted  anti-slavery  men  of  those  times 
— as  Dr.  Franklin,  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  Gouverneur  Morris 
— while  there  was  not  one  now  known  to  have  been  otherwise, 
unless  it  may  be  John  Eutledge,  of  South  Carolina. 

"The  sum  of  the  whole  is,  that  of  our  'thirty -nine  fathers 
who  framed  the  original  Constitution,  twenty-one — a  clear* 
majority  of  the  whole — certainly  understood  that  no  proper 
division  of  local  from  Federal  authority  nor  any  part  of  the 
Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  sla 
very  in  the  Federal  Territories,  while  all  the  rest  probably  had 
the  same  understanding.  Such,  unquestionably,  was  the  under 
standing  of  our  fathers  who  framed  the  original  Constitution ; 
and  the  text  affirms  that  they  understood  the  question  better 
than  we. 

"But,  so  far,  I  have  been  considering  the  understanding  of 
the  question  manifested  by  the  framers  of  the  original  Consti 
tution.  In  and  by  the  original  instrument,  a  mode  was  pro 
vided  for  amending  it;  and,  as  I  have  already  stated,  the 
present  frame  of  government  under  which  we  live  consists 
of  that  original,  and  twelve  amendatory  articles  framed  and 
adopted  since.  Those  who  now  insist  that  Federal  control  of 
slavery  in  Federal  Territories  violates  the  Constitution,  point 
us  to  the  provisions  which  they  suppose  it  thus  violates ;  and, 
as  I  understand,  they  all  fix  upon  provisions  in  these  amenda- 


140  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tory  articles,  and  not  in  the  original  instrument.  The  Supreme 
Court,  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  plant  themselves  upon  the  fifth 
amendment,  which  provides  that  'no  person  shall  be  deprived 
of  property  without  due  process  of  law ;'  while  Senator  Doug 
las  and  his  peculiar  adherents  plant  themselves  upon  the  tenth 
amendment,  providing  that  'the  powers  not  granted  by  the 
Constitution  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  and  to  the 
people.' 

"  Now,  it  so  happens  that  these  amendments  were  framed  by 
the  first  Congress  which  sat  under  the  Constitution — the  iden 
tical  Congress  which  passed  the  act  already  mentioned,  enforc 
ing  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  Northwestern  Territory. 
Not  only  was  it  the  same  Congress,  but  they  were  the  identical, 
same  individual  men  who,  at  the  same  session,  and  at  the  same 
time  within  the  session,  had  under  consideration,  and  in  pro 
gress  toward  maturity,  these  constitutional  amendments,  and 
•this  act  prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  territory  the  nation  then 
owned.  The  Constitutional  amendments  were  introduced 
before,  and  passed  after  the  act  enforcing  the  Ordinance  of  '87 ; 
so  that  during  the  whole  pendency  of  the  act  to  enforce  the 
Ordinance,  the  constitutional  amendments  were  also  pending. 

"  That  Congress,  consisting  in  all  of  seventy-six  members, 
including  sixteen  of  the  framers  of  the  original  Constitution, 
as  before  stated,  were  pre-eminently  our  fathers  who  framed 
that  part  of  the  government  under  which  we  live,  which  is 
now  claimed  as  forbidding  the  Federal  Government  to  control 
slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories. 

"Is  it  not  a  little  presumptuous  in  any  one  at  this  day  to 
affirm  that  the  two  things  which  that  Congress  deliberately 
framed,  and  carried  to  maturity  at  the  same  time,  are  abso 
lutely  inconsistent  with  each  other  ?  And  does  not  such  affir 
mation  become  impudently  absurd  when  coupled  with  the  other 
affirmation,  from  the  same  mouth,  that  those  who  did  the  two 
things  alleged  to  be  inconsistent  understood  whether  they 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON    THE    STUMP."  141 

really  were  inconsistent  better  than  we — better  than  he  who 
affirms  that  they  are  inconsistent  ? 

"  It  is  surely  safe  to  assume  that  the  '  thirty-nine'  framers  of 
the  original  Constitution,  and  the  seventy-six  members  of  the 
Congress  which  framed  the  amendments  thereto,  taken  together, 
do  certainly  include  those  who  may  be  fairly  called  cur 
fathers  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live.' 
And  so  assuming,  I  defy  any  man  to  show  that  any  one  of 
them  ever,  in  his  whole  life,  declared  that,  in  his  understanding, 
any  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or  any 
part  of  the  Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal  Government  to 
control  as  to  slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories.  I  go  a  step 
further.  I  defy  any  one  to  show  that  any  living  man  in  the 
whole  world  ever  did,  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century  (and  I  might  almost  say  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the 
last  half  of  the  present  century),  declare  that,  in  his  understand 
ing,  any  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or 
any  part  of  the  Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal  Government 
to  control  as  to  slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories.  To  those 
who  now  so  declare,  I  give,  not  only  '  our  fathers  who  framed 
the  government  under  which  we  live,'  but  with  them  all  other 
living  men  within  the  century  in  which  it  was  framed,  among 
whom  to  search,  and  they  shall  not  be  able  to  find  the  evidence 
of  a  single  man  agreeing  with  them. 

"  Now,  and  here,  let  me  guard  a  little  against  being  misunder 
stood.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  we  are  bound  to  follow  implicitly 
in  whatever  our  fathers  did.  To  do  so,  would  be  to  discard  all 
the  lights  of  current  experience — to  reject  all  progress — all 
improvement.  What  I  do  say  is,  that  if  we  would  supplant 
the  opinions  and  policy  of  our  fathers  in  any  case,  we  should 
do  so  upon  evidence  so  conclusive,  and  argument  so  clear,  that 
even  their  great  authority,  fairly  considered  and  weighed,  can 
not  stand ;  and  most  surely  not  in  a  case  whereof  we  ourselves 
declare  they  understood  the  question  better  than  we. 

"  If  any  man,  at  this  day,  sincerely  believes  that  a  proper 


142  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or  any  part  of  the 
Constitution,  forbids  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to 
slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories,  he  is  right  to  say  so,  and  to 
enforce  his  position  by  all  truthful  evidence  and  fair  argument 
which  he  can.  But  he  has  no  right  to  mislead  others,  who 
have  less  access  to  history  and  less  leisure  to  study  it,  into  the 
false  belief  that  '  our  fathers,  who  framed  the  government  under 
which  we  live,'  were  of  the  same  opinion — thus  substituting 
falsehood  and  deception  for  truthful  evidence  and  fair  argu 
ment.  If  any  man,  at  this  day,  sincerely  believes  '  our  fathers, 
who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live,'  used 
and  applied  principles,  in  other  cases,  which  ought  to  have  led 
them  to  understand  that  a  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal 
authority,  or  some  part  of  the  Constitution,  forbids  the  Federal 
Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories, 
he  is  right  to  say  so.  But  he  should,  at  the  same  time,  brave 
the  responsibility  of  declaring  that,  in  his  opinion,  he  under 
stands  their  principles  better  than  they  did  themselves;  and 
especially  should  he  not  shirk  that  responsibility  by  asserting 
that  they  'understood  the  question  just  as  well,  and  even  better 
than  we  do  now.' 

"But  enough.  Let  all  who  believe  that  'our  fathers,  who 
framed  the  government  under  which  we  live,  understood  this 
question  just  as  well,  and  even  better  than  we  do  now,'  speak 
as  they  spoke,  and  act  as  they  acted  upon  it.  This  is  all 
Republicans  ask,  all  Eepublicans  desire,  in  relation  to  slavery. 
As  those  fathers  marked  it,  so  let  it  be  again  marked,  as 
an  evil  not  to  be  extended,  but  to  be  tolerated  and  protected 
only  because  of  and  so  far  as  its  actual  presence  among  us 
makes  that  toleration  and  protection  a  necessity.  Let  all  the 
guarantees  those  fathers  gave  it,  be,  not  grudgingly,  but  fully 
and  fairly  maintained.  For  this  Eepublicans  contend,  and  with 
this,  so  far  as  I  know  or  believe,  they  will  be  content. 

"And  now,  if  they  would  listen — as  I  suppose  they  will 
not — I  would  address  a  few  words  to  the  Southern  people. 


IN   CONGRESS  AND   "ON   THE   STUMP."  143 

"I  would  say  to  them:  You  consider  yourselves  a  reasonable 
and  a  just  people;  and  I  consider  that,  in  the  general  qualities 
of  reason  and  justice,  you  are  not  inferior  to  any  other  people. 
Still,  when  you  speak  of  us  Eepublicans,  you  do  so  only 
to  denounce  us  as  reptiles,  or,  at  the  best,  as  no  better  than 
outlaws.  You  will  grant  a  hearing  to  pirates  or  murderers, 
but  nothing  like  it  to  '  Black  Eepublicans.'  In  all  your 
contentions  with  one  another,  each  of  you  deems  an  uncon 
ditional  condemnation  of  'Black  Kepublicanism'  as  the  first 
thing  to  be  attended  to.  Indeed,  such  condemnation  of  us 
seems  to  be  an  indispensable  prerequisite — license,  so  to 
speak — among  you  to  be  admitted  or  permitted  to  speak  at  all 

"Now  can  you,  or  not,  be  prevailed  upon  to  pause  and 
to  consider  whether  this  is  quite  just  to  us,  or  even  to  your 
selves  ? 

"  Bring  forward  your  charges  and  specifications,  and  then  be 
patient  long  enough  to  hear  us  deny  or  justify 

11  You  say  we  are  sectional.  "We  deny  it.  That  makes  an 
issue ;  and  the  burden  of  proof  is  upon  you.  You  produce 
your  proof;  and  what  is  it?  Why,  that  our  party  has  no 
existence  in  your  section — gets  no  votes  in  your  section.  The 
fact  is  substantially  true ;  but  does  it  prove  the  issue  ?  If  it 
does,  then,  in  case  we  should,  without  change  of  principle, 
begin  to  get  votes  in  your  section,  we  should  thereby  cease  to 
be  sectional.  You  cannot  escape  this  conclusion ;  and  yet,  are 
you  willing  to  abide  by  it?  If  you  are,  you  will  probably 
soon  find  that  we  have  ceased  to  be  sectional,  for  we  shall  get 
votes  in  your  section  this  very  year.  You  will  then  begin  to 
discover,  as  the  truth  plainly  is,  that  your  proof  does  not  touch 
the  issue.  The  fact  that  we  get  no  votes  in  your  section, 
is  a  fact  of  your  making,  and  not  of  ours.  And  if  there 
be  fault  in  that  fact,  that  fault  is  primarily  yours,  and  remains 
so  until  you  show  that  we  repel  you  by  some  wrong  principle 
or  practice.  If  we  do  repel  you  by  any  wrong  principle 
or  practice,  the  fault  is  ours ;  but  this  brings  us  to  where  you 


144  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ought  to  have  started — to  the  discussion  of  the  right  or  wrong 
of  our  principle.  If  our  principle,  put  in  practice,  would 
wrong  your  section  for  the  benefit  of  ours,  or  for  any  other 
object,  then  our  principle,  and  we  with  it,  are  sectional,  and  are 
justly  opposed  and  denounced  as  such.  Meet  us,  then,  on  the 
question  of  whether  our  principle,  put  in  practice,  would 
wrong  your  section ;  and  so  meet  it  as  if  it  were  possible  that 
something  may  be  said  on  our  side.  Do  you  accept  the 
challenge?  No?  Then  you  really  believe  that  the  principle 
which  our  fathers,  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we 
live,  thought  so  clearly  right  as  to  adopt  it,  and  indorse  it  again 
and  again  upon  their  official  oaths,  is,  in  fact,  so  clearly  wrong 
as  to  demand  your  condemnation  without  a  moment's  con 
sideration. 

"Some  of  you  delight  to  flaunt  in  our  faces  the  warning 
against  sectional  parties  given  by  Washington  in  his  Farewell 
Address.  Less  than  eight  years  before  "Washington  gave  that 
warning,  he  had,  as  President  of  the  United  States,  approved 
and  signed  an  act  of  Congress  enforcing  the  prohibition  of 
slavery  in  the  Northwestern  Territory,  which  act  embodied  the 
policy  of  the  government  upon  that  subject,  up  to  and  at  the 
very  moment  he  penned  that  warning ;  and  about  one  year 
after  he  penned  it  he  wrote  Lafayette  that  he  considered  that 
prohibition  a  wise  measure,  expressing,  in  the  same  connection, 
his  hope  that  we  should  some  time  have  a  confederacy  of  free 
States. 

"Bearing  this  in  mind,  and  seeing  that  sectionalism  has 
since  arisen  upon  this  same  subject,  is  that  warning  a  weapon 
in  your  hands  against  us,  or  in  our  hands  against  you  ?  Could 
Washington  himself  speak,  would  he  cast  the  blame  of  that 
sectionalism  upon  us,  who  sustain  his  policy,  or  upon  you,  who 
repudiate  it  ?  We  respect  that  warning  of  Washington,  and 
we  commend  it  to  you,  together  with  his  example  pointing  to 
the  right  application  of  it. 

"But  you  say  you  are   conservative — eminently  conserva- 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "  ON    THE    STUMP."  145 

— while  we  are  revolutionary,  destructive,  or  something  of 
the  sort.  What  is  conservatism  ?  Is  it  not  adherence  to  the 
old  and  tried  against  the  new  and  untried  ?  We  stick  to, 
contend  for,  the  identical  old  policy  on  the  point  in  controversy 
which  was  adopted  by  our  fathers  who  framed  the  government 
under  which  we  live ;  while  you,  with  one  accord,  reject,  and 
scout,  and  spit  upon  that  old  policy,  and  insist  upon  substitu 
ting  something  new.  True,  you  disagree  among  yourselves 
as  to  what  that  substitute  shall  be.  You  have  considerable 
variety  of  new  propositions  and  plans,  but  you  are  unanimous 
in  rejecting  and  denouncing  the  old  policy  of  the  fathers. 
Some  of  you  are  for  reviving  the  foreign  slave  trade ;  some  for 
a  Congressional  slave  code  for  the  Territories;  some  for 
Congress  forbidding  the  Territories  to  prohibit  slavery  within 
their  limits ;  some  for  maintaining  slavery  in  the  Territories 
through  the  Judiciary ;  some  for  the  '  gur-reat  pur-rinciple' 
that,  '  if  one  man  would  enslave  another,  no  third  man  should 
object,' fantastically  called 'Popular  Sovereignty;'  but  never  a 
man  among  you  in  favor  of  Federal  prohibition  of  slavery  in 
Federal  Territories,  according  to  the* practice  of  our  fathers 
who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live.  Not  one 
of  all  your  various  plans  can  show  a  precedent  or  an  advocate 
in  the  century  within  which  our  government  originated.  Con 
sider,  then,  whether  your  claim  of  conservatism  for  yourselves, 
and  your  charge  of  destructiveness  against  us,  are  based  on  the 
most  clear  and  stable  foundations. 

"Again  you  say  we  have  made  the  slavery  question  more 
prominent  than  it  formerly  was.  We  deny  it.  We  admit  that 
it  is  more  prominent,  but  we  deny  that  we  made  it  so.  It  was 
not  we,  but  you,  who  discarded  the  old  policy  of  the  fathers. 
We  resisted,  and  still  resist,  your  innovation;  and  thence 
comes  the  greater  prominence  of  the  question.  Would  you 
have  that  question  reduced  to  its  former  proportions?  Go 
1  ack  to  that  old  policy.  What  has  been  will  be  again,  under 
10 


146  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  same  conditions.     If  yon  would  have  the  peace  of  the  old 
times,  re-adopt  the  precepts  and  policy  of  the  old  times. 

"You  charge  that  we  stir  up  insurrections  among  your 
slaves.  We  deny  it.  And  what  is  your  proof?  Harper's 
Ferry !  John  Brown !  John  Brown  was  no  Eepublican  ;  and 
you  have  failed  to  implicate  a  single  Republican  in  his  Harper's 
Ferry  enterprise.  If  any  member  of  our  party  is  guilty  in  that 
matter,  you  know  it,  or  you  do  not  know  it.  If  you  do  know 
it,  you  are  inexcusable  to  not  designate  the  man,  and  prove  the 
fact.  If  you  do  not  know  it,  you  are  inexcusable  to  assert  it 
and  especially  to  persist  in  the  assertion  after  you  have  tried 
and  failed  to  make  the  proof.  You  need  not  be  told  that  per 
sisting  in  a  charge  which  one  does  not  know  to  be  true  is 
simply  malicious  slander. 

"  Some  of  you  admit  that  no  Eepublican  designedly  aided 
or  encouraged  the  Harper's  Ferry  affair ;  but  still  insist  that 
our  doctrines  and  declarations  necessarily  lead  to  such  results. 
We  do  not  believe  it.  We  know  we  hold  to  no  doctrine,  and 
make  no  declarations  which  were  not  held  to  and  made  by  our 
fathers  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live. 
You  never  deal  fairly  by  us  in  relation  to  this  affair.  When 
it  occurred,  some  important  State  elections  were  near  at  hand, 
and  you  were  in  evident  glee  with  the  belief  that,  by  charging 
the  blame  upon  us,  you  could  get  an  advantage  of  us  in  those 
electionsr  The  elections  came  and  your  expectations  were  not 
quite  fulfilled.  Every  Eepublican  man  knew  that,  as  to  him 
self,  at  least,  your  charge  was  a  slander,  and  he  was  not  much 
inclined  by  it  to  cast  his  vote  in  your  favor.  Eepublican  doc 
trines  and  declarations  are  accompanied  with  a  continual  pro 
test  against  any  interference  whatever  with  your  slaves,  or  with 
you  about  your  slaves.  Surely,  this  does  not  encourage  them 
to  revolt.  True,  we  do,  in  common  with  our  fathers  who 
framed  the  government  under  which  we  live,  declare  our 
belief  that  slavery  is  wrong ;  but  the  slaves  do  not  hear  us 
declare  even  this.  For  any  thing  we  say  or  do,  the  slaves 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "  ON    THE    STUMP."  147 

would  scarcely  know  there  is  a  Kepublican  party.  I  believe 
they  would  not,  in  fact,  generally  know  it  but  for  your  mis 
representation  of  us  in  their  hearing.  In  your  political  con 
tests  among  yourselves,  each  faction  charges  the  other  with 
sympathy  with  Black  Kepublicanism ;  and  then,  to  give  point- 
to  the  charge,  defines  Black  Kepublicanism  to  simply  be  in 
surrection,  blood  and  thunder  among  the  slaves. 

"Slave  insurrections  are  no  more  common  now  than  they 
were  before  the  Republican  party  was  organized.  What  in 
duced  the  Southampton  insurrection,  twenty-eight  years  ago, 
in  which  at  least  three  times  as  many  lives  were  lost  as  at 
Harper's  Ferry !  You  can  scarcely  stretch  your  very  elastic 
fancy  to  the  conclusion  that  Southampton  was  got  up  by  Black 
Republicanism.  In  the  present  state  of  things  in  the  United 
States,  I  do  not  think  a  general,  or  even  a  very  extensive 
slave  insurrection,  is  possible.  The  indispensable  concert  of 
action  cannot  be  attained.  The  slaves  have  no  means  of  rapid 
communication ;  nor  can  incendiary  free  men,  black  or  white, 
supply  it.  The  explosive  materials  are  everywhere  in  parcels ; 
but  there  neither  are,  nor  can  be  supplied,  the  indispensable 
connecting  trains. 

"Much  is  said  by  southern  people  about  the  affection  of 
slaves  for  their  masters  and  mistresses ;  and  a  part  of  it,  at 
least,  is  true.  A  plot  for  an  uprising  could  scarcely  be  devised 
and  communicated  to  twenty  individuals  before  some  one  of 
them,  to  save  the  life  of  a  favorite  master  or  mistress,  would 
divulge  it.  This  is  the  rule ;  and  the  slave  revolution  in  Hayti 
was  not  an  exception  to  it,  but  a  case  occurring  under  peculiar, 
circumstances.  The  gunpowder-plot  of  British  history,  though 
not  connected  with  the  slaves,  was  more  in  point.  In  that 
case,  only  about  twenty  were  admitted  to  the  secret ;  and  yet 
one  of  them,  in  his  anxiety  to  save  a  friend,  betrayed  the  plot 
to  that  friend,  and,  by  consequence,  averted  the  calamity. 
Occasional  poisonings  from  the  kitchen,  and  open  or  stealthy 
assassinations  in  the  field,  and  local  revolts  extending  to  a 


148  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

score  or  so,  will  continue  to  occur  as  the  natural  results  of 
slavery;  but  no  general  insurrection  of  slaves,  as  I  think,  can 
happen  in  this  country  for  a  long  time.  Whoever  much 
fears,  or  much  hopes,  for  such  an  event,  will  be  alike  disap 
pointed. 

"  In  the  language  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  uttered  many  years  ago, 
'  It  is  still  in  our  power  to  direct  the  process  of  emancipation, 
and  deportation,  peaceably,  and  in  such  slow  degrees,  as  that 
the  evil  will  wear  off  insensibly;  and  their  place  be,  pari 
passu,  filled  up  by  free  white  laborers.  If,  on  the  contrary,  it 
is  left  to  force  itself  on,  human  nature  must  shudder  at  the 
prospect  held  up.' 

"  Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  mean  to  say,  nor  do  I,  that  the  power 
of  emancipation  is  in  the  Federal  Government.  He  spoke  of 
Virginia ;  and,  as  to  the  power  of  emancipation,  I  speak  of  the 
slaveholding  States  only. 

"The  Federal  Government,  however,  as  we  insist,  has  the 
power  of  restraining  the  extension  of  the  institution — the 
power  to  insure  that  a  slave  insurrection  shall  never  occur  on 
any  American  soil  which  is  now  free  from  slavery. 

"John  Brown's  effort  was  peculiar.  It  was  not  a  slave  in 
surrection.  It  was  an  attempt  by  white  men  to  get  up  a 
revolt  among  slaves,  in  which  the  slaves  refused  to  participate. 
In  fact,  it  was  so  absurd  that  the  slaves,  with  all  their  igno 
rance,  saw  plainly  enough  it  could  not  succeed.  That  affair, 
in  its  philosophy,  corresponds  with  the  many  attempts,  related 
in  history,  at  the  assassination  of  kings  and  emperors.  An 
enthusiast  broods  over  the  oppression  of  a  people  till  he 
fancies  himself  commissioned  by  Heaven  to  liberate  them.  He 
ventures  the  attempt,  which  ends  in  little  else  than  his  own 
execution.  Orsini's  attempt  on  Louis  Napoleon,  and  John 
Brown's  attempt  at  Harper's  Ferry  were,  in  their  philosophy, 
precisely  the  same.  The  eagerness  to  cast  blame  on  old 
England  in  the  one  case,  and  on  New  England  in  the  other 
does  not  disprove  the  sameness  of  the  two  things. 


IN    CONGRESS   AND    "  ON   THE    STUMP."  149 

"And  how  much  would  it  avail  you,  if  you  could,  by  the 
use  of  John  Brown,  Helper's  book,  and  the  like,  break  up  the 
Kepublican  organization?  Human  action  can  be  modified  to 
some  extent,  but  human  nature  cannot  be  changed.  There  is 
a  judgment  and  a  feeling  against  slavery  in  this  nation,  which 
cast  at  least  a  million  and  a-half  of  votes.  You  cannot  destroy 
that  judgment  and  feeling — that  sentiment — by  breaking  up 
the  political  organization  which  rallies  around  it.  You  can 
scarcely  scatter  and  disperse  an  army  which  has  been  formed 
into  order  in  the  face  of  your  heaviest  fire ;  but  if  you  could, 
how  much  would  you  gain  by  forcing  the  sentiment  which 
created  it  out  of  the  peaceful  channel  of  the  ballot-box,  into 
some  other  channel  ?  What  would  that  other  channel  prob 
ably  be  ?  Would  the  number  of  John  Browns  be  lessened  or 
enlarged  by  the  operation. 

"  But  you  will  break  up  the  Union  rather  than  submit  to  a 
denial  of  your  Constitutional  rights. 

"  That  has  a  somewhat  reckless  sound ;  but  it  would  be  pal 
Hated,  if  not  fully  justified,  were  we  proposing,  by  the  mere 
force  of  numbers,  to  deprive  you  of  some  right  plainly  written 
down    in    the    Constitution.     But  we    are    proposing  no  such 
thing. 

"  When  you  make  these  declarations,  you  have  a  specific  and 
well-understood  allusion  to  an  assumed  constitutional  right  of 
yours,  to  take  slaves  into  the  Federal  Territories,  and  hold 
them  there  as  property.  But  no  such  right  is  specifically 
written  in  the  Constitution.  That  instrument  is  literally  silent 
about  any  such  right.  We,  on  the  contrary,  deny  that  such 
a  right  has  any  existence  in  the  Constitution,  even  by  im 
plication. 

"  Your  purpose,  then,  plainly  stated,  is,  that  you  will  destroy 
the  Government,  unless  you  be  allowed  to  construe  and  enforce 
the  Constitution  as  you  please,  on  all  points  in  dispute  between 
you  and  us.  You  will  rule  or  ruin  in  all  events. 

"  This,  plainly  stated,  is  your  language  to  us.     Perhaps  you 


150  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

will  say  the  Supreme  Court  has  decided  the  disputed  constitu 
tional  question  in  your  favor.  Not  quite  so.  But  waiving  the 
lawyer's  distinction  between  dictum  and  decision;  the  courts 
have  decided  the  question  for  you  in  a  sort  of  way.  The  courts 
have  substantially  said,  it  is  your  constitutional  right  to  take 
slaves  into  the  Federal  Territories,  and  to  hold  them  there  as 
property. 

"  When  I  say  the  decision  was  made  in  a  sort  of  way,  I  mean 
it  was  made  in  a  divided  court  by  a  bare  majority  of  the 
judges,  and  they  not  quite  agreeing  with  one  another  in  the 
reasons  for  making  it ;  that  it  is  so  made  as  that  its  avowed 
supporters  disagree  with  one  another  about  its  meaning,  and 
that  it  was  mainly  based  upon  a  mistaken  statement  of  fact — • 
the  statement  in  the  opinion  that  'the  right  of  property  in  a 
slave  is  distinctly  and  expressly  affirmed  in  the  Constitution.' 

"An  inspection  of  the  Constitution  will  show  that  the  right 
of  property  in  a  slave  is  not  distinctly  and  expressly  affirmed 
in  it.  Bear  in  mind  the  Judges  do  not  pledge  their  judicial 
opinion  that  such  right  is  irnpliedly  affirmed  in  the  Constitution; 
but  they  pledge  their  veracity  that  it  is  distinctly  and  expressly 
affirmed  there — 'distinctly'  that  is,  not  mingled  with  any  thing 
else — 'expressly'  that  is,  in  words  meaning  just  that,  without 
the  aid  of  any  inference,  and  susceptible  of  no  other  meaning. 

"  If  they  had  only  pledged  their  judicial  opinion  that  such 
right  is  affirmed  in  the  instrument  by  implication,  it  would  be 
open  to  others  to  show  that  neither  the  word  'slave'  nor  '  slavery' 
is  to  be  found  in  the  Constitution,  nor  the  word  'property' 
even,  in  any  connection  with  language  alluding  to  the  things 
slave,  or  slavery,  and  that  wherever  in  that  instrument  the' 
slave  is  alluded  to,  he  is  called  a  'person;'  and  wherever  his 
master's  legal  right  in  relation  to  him  is  alluded  to,  it  is  spoken 
of  as  '  service  or  labor  due,'  as  a  '  debt'  payable  in  service  or 
labor.  Also,  it  would  be  open  to  show,  by  contemporaneous 
history,  that  this  mode  of  alluding  to  slaves  and  slavery, 
instead  of  speaking  of  them,  was  employed  on  purpose  to  ex- 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "  ON   THE   STUMP."  151 

dude  from  the  Constitution  the  idea  that  there  could  be  property 
in  man. 

"  To  show  all  this  is  easy  and  certain. 

"  When  this  obvious  mistake  of  the  Judges  shall  be  brought 
to  their  notice,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  expect  that  they  will 
withdraw  the  mistaken  statement,  and  reconsider  the  conclu 
sion  based  upon  it  ? 

"And  then  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  '  our  fathers,  who 
framed  the  government  under  which  we  live' — the  men  who 
made  the  Constitution — decided  this  same  constitutional  ques 
tion  in  our  favor,  long  ago — decided  it  without  a  division 
among  themselves,  when  making  the  decision  ;  without  division 
among  themselves  about  the  meaning  of  it  after  it  was  made, 
and  so  far  as  any  evidence  is  left,  without  basing  it  upon  any 
mistaken  statement  of  facts. 

"  Under  all  these  circumstances,  do  you  realty  feel  yourselves 
justified  to  break  up  this  government,  unless  such  a  court 
decision  as  yours  is,  shall  be  at  once  submitted  to,  as  a  conclu 
sive  and  final  rule  of  political  action. 

"  But  you  will  not  abide  the  election  of  a  Republican  Presi 
dent.  In  that  supposed  event,  you  say,  you  will  destroy  the 
Union ;  and  then,  you  say,  the  great  crime  of  having  destroyed 
it  will  be  upon  us ! 

"  That  is  cool.  A  highwayman  holds  a  pistol  to  my  ear,  and 
mutters  through  his  teeth,  '  Stand  and  deliver,  or  I  shall  kill 
you,  and  then  you  will  be  a  murderer  1' 

"  To  be  sure,  what  the  robber  demanded  of  me — my  money 
• — was  my  own ;  and  I  had  a  clear  right  to  keep  it ;  but  it  w.as 
11  o  more  my  own  than  my  vote  is  my  own ;  and  threat  of  death 
to  me,  to  extort  my  money,  and  threat  of  destruction  to  the 
Union,  to  extort  my  vote,  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  in 
principle. 

"A  few  words  now  to  Eepublicans.  It  is  exceedingly  desira 
ble  that  all  parts  of  this  great  confederacy  shall  be  at  peace, 
and  in  harmony,  one  with  another.  Let  us  Eepublicans  do  our 


152  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

part  to  have  it  so.  Even  though  much  provoked,  let  us  do 
nothing  through  passion  and  ill  temper.  Even  though  the 
southern  people  will  not  so  much  as  listen  to  us,  let  us  calmly 
consider  their  demands,  and  yield  to  them  if,  in  our  deliberate 
view  of  our  duty,  we  possibly  can.  Judging  by  all  they  say 
and  do,  and  by  the  subject  and  nature  of  their  controversy  with 
us,  let  us  determine,  if  we  can,  what  will  satisfy  them? 

"  Will  they  be  satisfied  if  the  Territories  be  unconditionally 
surrendered  to  them?  We  know  they  will  not.  In  all  their 
present  complaints  against  us,  the  Territories'  are  scarcely 
mentioned.  Invasions  and  insurrections  are  the  rage  now 
Will  it  satisfy  them  if,  in  the  future,  we  have  nothing  to  do 
with  invasions  and  insurrections  ?  We  know  it  will  not.  We 
so  know  because  we  know  we  never  had  any  thing  to  do  with 
invasions  and  insurrections ;  and  yet  this  total  abstaining  does 
not  exempt  us  from  the  charge  and  the  denunciation. 

"The  question  recurs,  what  will  satisfy  them  ?  Simply  this 
We  must  not  only  let  them  alone,  but  we  must,  somehow,  con 
vince  them  that  we  do  let  them  alone.  This,  we  know  by  ex 
perience,  is  no  easy  task.  We  have  been  so  trying  to  convince 
them  from  the  very  beginning  of  our  organization,  but  with  no 
success.  In  all  our  platforms  and  speeches  we  have  constantly 
protested  our  purpose  to  let  them  alone ;  but  this  has  had  no 
tendency  to  convince  them.  Alike  unavailing  to  convince 
them  is  the  fact  that  they  have  never  detected  a  man  of  us  in 
any  attempt  to  disturb  them. 

"  These  natural,  and  apparently  adequate  means  all  failing, 
what  will  convince  them  ?  This,  and  this  only  :  cease  to  call 
slavery  wrong,  and  join  them  in  calling  it  right.  And  tiais 
must  be  done  thoroughly — done  in  acts  as  well  as  in  wonU 
Silence  will  not  be  tolerated — we  must  place  ourselves  avow 
edly  with  them.  Douglas's  new  sedition  law  must  be  enacted 
and  enforced,  suppressing  all  declarations  that  slavery  is 
wrong,  whether  made  in  politics,  in  presses,  in  pulpits,  or  in 
private.  We  must  arrest  and  return  their  fugitive  slaves  with 


IN   CONGRESS   AND    "ON   THE    STUMP."  153 

greedy  pleasure.  We  must  pull  down  our  Free-State  Consti 
tutions.  The  whole  atmosphere  must  be  disinfected  from  all 
taint  of  opposition  to  slavery,  before  they  will  cease  to  believe 
that  all  their  troubles  proceed  from  us. 

"  I  am  quite  aware  they  do  not  state  their  case  precisely  in 
this  way.  Most  of  them  would  probably  say  to  us,  '  Let  us 
alone,  do  nothing  to  us,  and  say  what  you  please  about 
slavery.'  But  we  do  let  them  alone — have  never  disturbed 
them — so  that,  after  all,  it  is  what  we  say,  which  dissatisfies 
them.  They  will  continue  to  accuse  us  of  doing,  until  we 
cease  saying. 

"  I  am  also  aware  they  have  not,  as  yet,  in  terms  demanded 
the  overthrow  of  our  Free-State  Constitutions.  Yet  those 
Constitutions  declare  the  wrong  of  slavery,  with  more  solemn 
emphasis,  than  do  all  other  sayings  against  it ;  and  when  all 
these  other  sayings  shall  have  been  silenced,  the  overthrow  of 
these  Constitutions  will  be  demanded,  and  nothing  be  left  to 
resist  the  demand.  It  is  nothing  to  the  contrary,  that  they  do 
not  demand  the  whole  of  this  just  now.  Demanding  what 
they  do,  and  for  the  reason  they  do,  they  can  voluntarily  stop 
nowhere  short  of  this  consummation.  Holding,  as  they  do, 
that  slavery  is  morally  right,  and  socially  elevating,  they  can 
not  cease  to  demand  a  full  national  recognition  of  it,  as  a  legal 
right,  and  a  social  blessing. 

"Nor  can  we  justifiably  withhold  this,  on  any  ground  save 
our  conviction  that  slavery  is  wrong.  If  slavery  is  right,  all 
words,  acts,  laws,  and  constitutions  against  it,  are  themselves 
wrong,  and  should  be  silenced,  and  swept  away.  If  it  is  right, 
we  cannot  justly  object  to  its  nationality — its  universality ;  if  i 
is  wrong,  they  cannot  justly  insist  upon  its  extension — its 
enlargement.  All  they  ask,  we  could  readily  grant,  if  we 
thought  slavery  right ;  all  we  ask,  they  could  as  readily  grant, 
if  they  thought  it  wrong.  Their  thinking  it  right,  and  our 
thinking  it  wrong,  is  the  precise  fact  upon  which  depends  the 
whole  controversy.  Thinking  it  right,  as  they  do,  they  are 


154  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

not  to  blame  for  desiring  its  full  recognition,  as  being  right ; 
but,  thinking  it  wrong,  as  we  do,  can  we  yield  to  them  ?  Can 
we  cast  our  votes  with  their  view,  and  against  our  own  ?  In 
view  of  our  moral,  social,  and  political  responsibilities,  can  we 
do  this  ? 

"  Wrong  as  we  think  slavery  is,  we  can  yet  afford  to  let  it 
alone  where  it  is,  because  that  much  is  due  to  the  necessity 
arising  from  its  actual  presence  in  the  nation;  but  can  we, 
while  our  votes  will  prevent  it,  allow  it  to  spread  into  the 
National  Territories,  and  to  overrun  us  here  in  these  Free 
States  ? 

"  If  our  sense  of  duty  forbids  this,  then  let  us  stand  by  our 
duty,  fearless  and  effectively.  Let  us  be  diverted  by  none  of 
those  sophistical  contrivances  wherewith  we  are  so  indus 
triously  plied  and  belabored — contrivances  such  as  groping  for 
some  middle  ground  between  the  right  and  the  wrong,  vain  as 
the  search  for  a  man  who  should  be  neither  a  living  man  nor  a 
dead  man — such  a  policy  of  '  don't  care'  on  a  question  about 
which  all  true  men  do  care — such  as  Union  appeals,  beseech 
ing  true  Union  men  to  yield  to  Disunioriists,  reversing  the 
Divine  rule,  and  calling,  not  the  sinners,  but  the  righteous  to 
repentance — such  as  invocations  to  Washington,  imploring 
men  to  unsay  what  Washington  said,  and  undo  what  Washing 
ton  did. 

"Neither  let  us  ~be  slandered  from  our  duty  ly  false  accusations 
against  us,  not  frightened  from  it  ly  menaces  of  destruction  to  the 
Government,  nor  of  dungeons  to  ourselves.  Let  us  have  faith  that 
right  makes  might,  and  in  that  faith,  let  us,  to  the  end,  dare  to  do 
our  duty,  as  we  understand  it" 

This,  the  last  of  the  great  speeches  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
of  which  there  is  any  complete  report,  is  believed  to 
have  contributed,  more  than  any  thing  else,  to  Mr. 
Lincoln's  success  in  the  East,  during  the  ensuing  Presi 
dential  campaign.  It  forms  a  brilliant  close  to  this 


IX    CONGRESS    AND    "ON    THE    STUMP."  155 

period  of  his  life,  and  a  fitting  prelude  to  that  on  which 
he  was  about  to  enter. 

It  was  during  this  visit  to  New  York  that  the  follow- 
TJ  incident  occurred,  as  related  by  a  teacher  in  the 

^-Points  House  of  Industry,  in  that  city : 

"  Our  Sunday-school  in  the  Five-Points  was  assembled,  one 
ibbath  morning,  a  few  months  since,  when  I  noticed  a  tall, 
aid  remarkable-looking  man  enter  the  room  and  take  a  seat 
nong  us.     He  listened  with  fixed  attention  to  our  exercises, 
.  .nd  his  countenance  manifested  such  genuine  interest,  that  I 
pproached  him  and  suggested  that  he  might  be  willing  to  say 
mething  to   the  children.     He  accepted  the  invitation  with 
Ip'ident  pleasure,  and  coming  forward  began  a  simple  address,  * 
which  at  once  fascinated  every  little  hearer,  and  hushed  the 
room  into  silence.     His  language  was  strikingly  beautiful,  and 
his    tones   musical   with    intensest  feeling.     The    little   faces 
around  would  droop  into  sad  conviction  as  he  uttered  sen 
tences  of  warning,  and  would  brighten  into  sunshine  as  he 
spoke  cheerful  words  of  promise.     Once  or  twice  he  attempted 
to  close  his  remarks,  but  the  imperative  shout  of  '  Go  on !' 
'On,  do  go  on!'  would  compel  him  to  resume.     As  I  looked 
upon  the  gaunt  and  sinewy  frame  of  the  stranger,  and  marked 
his  powerful  head  and  determined  features,  now  touched  into 
softness  by  the  impressions  of  the  moment,  I  felt  an  irrepressi 
ble  curiosity  to  learn  something  more  about  him,  and  when  he 
was  quietly  leaving  the  room,  I  begged  to  know  his  name. 
He  courteously  replied;  'It  is  Abra'm  Lincoln,  from  Illinois!' " 


156  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN'S    NOMINATION   AND    ELECTION     TO    THE 
PRESIDENCY   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

His  nomination  by  the  Eepublican  National  Convention. — Exciting 
Scenes. — How  he  received  the  News. — Its  Official  Announcement  to 
him.— His  Letter  of  Acceptance.— The  composition  of  the  Parties,  and 
the  Canvass  of  I860.— He  is  elected  President  of  the  United  States.— 
Campaign  Song,  "Abe  of  the  West." 

ON  the  16th  of  May,  I860,  the  Republican  National 
Convention  assembled  at  Chicago,  in  an  immense 
building  erected  for  the  purpose,  and  called  "  The 
Wigwam."  There  were  four  hundred  and  sixty-five 
delegates,  and  the  city  was  filled  to  overflowing  with 
earnest  men,  who  had  come  there  to  press  the  claims 
of  their  favorite  candidates ;  while  the  halls  and  cor 
ridors  of  the  hotels  swarmed  and  buzzed  with  an  eager 
crowd.  Excitement  was  on  every  face,  politics  on 
every  tongue. 

Long  before  the  hour  for  opening,  the  concourse  of 
people  assembled  around  the  doors  numbered  many 
thousands  more  than  could  gain  admittance  to  the 
building.  As  soon  as  the  doors  were  opened  the  entire 
body  of  the  Wigwam  was  solidly  packed  with  men, 
and  the  seats  in  the  galleries  were  equally  closelv 
packed  with  ladies.  The  interior  of  the  hall  beim? 
handsomely  decorated  with  evergreens,  statuary,  and 
(lowers,  presented  a  striking  appearance.  There  were 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  157 

not  less  than  ten  thousand  persons,  in  the  building, 
while  vast  throngs  blocked  the  entrance,  and  filled  the 
grounds  around,  unable  to  obtain  admission. 

The  opening  day,  (the  16th,)  was  taken  up  with 
the  organization  of  the  Convention,  the  Hon.  George 
Ashmun,  of  Massachusetts,  being  appointed  President; 
and  vice-presidents  and  secretaries  being  selected  from 
every  State  represented  in  the  Convention.  The 
next  day,  (the  17th,)  the  Convention  again  assem 
bled  at  ten  o'clock,  and,  upon  the  adoption  of  rules, 
it  was  agreed  that  a  majority  should  nominate  the 
candidates. 

The  committee  on  resolutions  then  reported  the  fol 
lowing  platform,  which  was  adopted  with  enthusiasm, 
the  immense  multitude  of  spectators  rising  to  their  feet, 
with  cheer  upon  cheer  of  applause. 

THE   PLATFORM   OF   THE   REPUBLICAN   PARTI. 

''Resolved,  That  we,  the  delegated  representatives  of  the  Ke- 
publican  electors  of  the  United  States  in  Convention  assembled, 
in  the  discharge  of  the  duty  we  owe  to  our  constituents  and 
our  country,  unite  in  the  following  declarations. 

u  First. — That  the  history  of  the  nation  during  the  last  four 
years  has  fully  established  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  the 
organization  and  perpetuation  of  the  Kepublican  party,  and 
that  the  causes  which  called  it  into  existence  are  permanent  in 
their  nature,  and  now,  more  than  ever  before,  demand  its 
peaceful  and  constitutional  triumph. 

" 'Second. — That  the  maintenance  of  the  principles  promul 
gated  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  embodied  in  the 
Federal  Constitution,  is  essential  to  the  preservation  of  our 
republican  institutions;  that  the  Federal  Constitution,  the 
rights  of  the  States,  and  the  Union  of  the  States,  must  and 
shall  be  preserved;  and  that  we  reassert  'these  truths  to  be 


158  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

self-evident,  that  all .  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  en 
dowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights  ;  that 
among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness. 
That  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among 
men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed.' 

11  Third. — That  to  the  Union  of  the  States  this  nation  owes 
its  unprecedented  increase  in  population ;  its  surprising  de 
velopment  of  material  resources ;  its  rapid  augmentation  of 
wealth ;  its  happiness  at  home,  and  its  honor  abroad ;  and  we 
hold  in  abhorrence  all  schemes  for  disunion,  come  from  what 
ever  source  they  may;  and  we  congratulate  the  country  that 
no  Republican  member  of  Congress  has  uttered  or  counte 
nanced  a  threat  of  disunion,  so  often  made  by  Democratic 
members  of  Congress  without  rebuke,  and  with  applause  from 
their  political  associates;  and  we  denounce  those  threats  of 
disunion,  in  case  of  a  popular  overthrow  of  their  ascendency,  as 
denying  the  vital  principles  of  a  free  government,  and  as  an 
avowal  of  contemplated  treason,  which  it  *is  the  imperative 
duty  of  an  indignant  people  strongly  to  rebuke  and  forever 
silence. 

"Fourth. — That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the 
States,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and 
control  its  own  domestic  institutions,  according  to  its  own 
judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power  on 
which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  faith 
depends,  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion  by  armed 
force  of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext, 
as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes. 

"Fifth. — That  the  present  Democratic  administration  has  far 
exceeded  our  worst  apprehensions  in  its  measureless  subser 
viency  to  the  exactions  of  a  sectional  interest,  as  is  especially 
evident  in  its  desperate  exertions  to  force  the  infamous  Le- 
compton  Constitution  upon  the  protesting  people  of  Kansas — 
in  construing  the  personal  relation  between  master  and  servant 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  159 

to  involve  an  unqualified  property  in  persons — in  its  attempted 
enforcement  everywhere,  on  land  and  sea,  through  the  interven 
tion  of  Congress  and  the  Federal  courts,  of  the  extreme  pre 
tensions  of  a  purely  local  interest,  and  in  its  general  and 
unvarying  abuse  of  the  power  intrusted  to  it  by  a  confiding 
people. 

"Sixth. — That  the  people  justly  view  with  alarm  the  reck 
less  extravagance  which  pervades  every  department  of  the 
Federal  Government;  that  a  return  to  rigid  economy  and 
accountability  is  indispensable  to  arrest  the  system  of  plunder 
of  the  public  treasury  by  favored  partisans ;  while  the  recent 
startling  developments  of  fraud  and  corruption  at  the  Federal 
metropolis,  show  that  an  entire  change  of  administration  is 
imperatively  demanded.  ^ 

"Seventh. — That  the  new  dogma  that  the  Constitution,  of  its 
own  force,  carries  slavery  into  any  or  all  the  territories  of  the 
United  States,  is  a  dangerous  political  heresy,  at  variance  with 
the  explicit  provisions  of  that  instrument  itself,  with  cotempo- 
raneous  expositions  and  with  legislative  and  judicial  precedent, 
is  revolutionary  in  its  tendency,  and  subversive  of  the  peace 
and  harmony  of  the  country. 

"Eighth. — That  the  normal  condition  of  all  the  territories  of 
the  United  States  is  that  of  freedom ;  that  as  our  republican 
fathers,  when  they  had  abolished  slavery  in  all  our  national 
territory,  ordained  that  no  person  should  be  deprived  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property,  without  the  process  of  law,  it  becomes  our 
duty,  by  legislation,  whenever  such  legislation  is  necessary,  to 
maintain  this  provision  of  the  Constitution  against  all  attempts 
to  violate  it ;  and  we  deny  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  ter 
ritorial  legislature,  or  of  any  individuals,  to  give  legal  existence 
to  slavery  in  any  Territory  of  the  United  States. 

"Ninth. — That  we  brand  the  recent  re-opening  of  the 
African  slave  trade,  under  the  cover  of  our  national  flag, 
aided  by  perversions  of  judicial  power,  as  a  crime  against 
humanity,  a  burning  shame  to  our  country  and  age;  and  we 


160  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

call  upon  Congress  to  take  prompt  and  efficient  measures  for 
the  total  and  final  suppression  of  that  execrable  traffic. 

''  Tenth. — That  in  the  recent  vetoes  by  their  Federal  gover 
nors,  of  the  acts  of  the  Legislatures  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
prohibiting  slavery  in  those  Territories,  we  find  a  practical 
illustration  of  the  boasted  Democratic  principle  of  non-inter 
vention  and  popular  sovereignty,  embodied  in  the  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  bill,  and  a  denunciation  of  the  deception  and  fraud 
involved  therein. 

"Eleventh. — That  Kansas  should  of  right  be  immediately 
admitted  as  a  State,  under  the  constitution  recently  formed 
and  adopted  by  her  people  and  accepted  by  the  House  of 
Representatives. 

"  Twelfth. — That  while  providing  revenue  for  the  support  of 
the  General  Government  by  duties  upon  imposts,  sound  policy 
requires  such  an  adjustment  of  these  imposts  as  to  encourage 
the  development  of  the  industrial  interest  of  the  whole  country, 
and  we  commend  that  policy  of  national  exchanges  which 
secures  to  the  working  man  liberal  wages,  to  agriculture  re 
munerating  prices,  to  mechanics  and  manufacturers  an  adequate 
reward  for  their  skill,  labor,  and  enterprise,  and  to  the  nation 
commercial  prosperity  and  independence. 

"  Thirteenth. — That  we  protest  against  any  sale  or  alienation 
to  others  of  the  public  lands  held  by  actual  settlers,  and 
against  any  view  of  the  free  homestead  policy  which  regards 
the  settlers  as  paupers  or  supplicants  for  public  bounty ;  and 
we  demand  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  complete  and 
satisfactory  homestead  measure  which  has  already  passed  the 
House. 

"  Fourteenth. — That  the  Republican  party  is  opposed  to  any 
change  in  our  naturalization  laws,  or  any  State  legislation 
by  which  the  rights  of  citizenship  hitherto  accorded  to  immi 
grants  from  foreign  lands  shall  be  abridged  or  impaired  ;  and 
in  favor  of  giving  a  full  and  efficient  protection  to  the  rights 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  161 

of  all  classes  of  citizens,  whether  native  or  naturalized,  both 
at  home  and  abroad. 

"Fifteenth. — That  appropriations  by  Congress  for  river  and 
harbor  improvements,  of  a  national  character,  required  for  the 
accommodation  and  security  of  an  existing  commerce,  are 
authorized  by  the  Constitution  and  justified  by  an  obligation 
of  the  government  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  its 
citizens. 

"  Sixteenth. — That  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  is  impera 
tively  demanded  by  the  interests  of  the  whole  country ;  that 
the  Federal  Government  ought  to  render  immediate  and 
efficient  aid  in  its  construction,  and  that,  as  preliminary  thereto, 
a  daily  overland  mail  should  be  promptly  established. 

"  Seventeenth. — Finally,  having  thus  set  forth  our  distinctive 
principles  and  views,  we  invite  the  co-operation  of  all  citizens, 
however  differing  on  other  questions,  who  substantially  agree 
with  us  in  their  affirmance  and  support." 

"A  scene  of  the  wildest  excitement,"  says  a  specta 
tor,  "followed  the  adoption  of  this  platform,  the 
immense  multitude  rising  and  giving  round  after  round 
of  applause ;  ten  thousand  voices  swelled  into  a  roar 
so  deafening  that,  for  several  minutes,  every  attempt 
to  restore  order  was  hopelessly  vain.  The  multitude 
outside  took  up  and  re-echoed  the  cheers,  making  the 
scene  of  enthusiasm  and  excitement  unparalleled  in 
any  similar  gathering." 

All  this  was  flashed  by  telegraph,  through  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  whole  Union,  and  on  the 
morrow,  (the  18th,)  the  people  all  over  the  land  stood 
breathless  and  expectant,  watching  for  the  "  coming 
man."  The  wigwam  was  closely  packed  for  a  full 
hour  before  the  Convention  assembled,  and  the  excite 
ment  became  intense  as  the  time  for  balloting  ap- 
ll 


162  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

preached.  The  Illinoisans  had  turned  out  in  great 
numbers,  zealous  for  Lincoln,  and  though  the  other 
States,  near  and  far,  had  sent  many  men  who  were 
equally  zealous  for  Mr.  Seward,  it  was  quite  clear  that 
Mr.  Lincoln's  supporters  were  in  the  majority  in  the 
audience.  A  crowd,  numbering  its  thousands,  had 
been  outside  the  building  since  nine  o'clock,  anxiously 
awaiting  intelligence  from  the  inside.  Arrangements 
had  been  made  for  passing  the  result  of  the  ballots  up 
from  the  platform  to  the  roof  of  the  building,  and 
through  the  skylight,  men  being  stationed  above  to 
convey  speedily  the  intelligence  to  the  multitude  in  the 
streets. 

A  large  procession,  formed  by  the  various  delegations, 
marched  to  the  hall,  preceded  by  bands  of  music,  and 
as  it  appeared  upon  the  platform  the  several  distin 
guished  men  were  greeted  with  rounds  of  applause  by 
the  audience. 

The  Convention  then  proceeded  to  ballot  for  a  candi 
date  for  President  of  the  United  States.  Seven  names 
were  formally  presented  in  the  following  order : 

William  H.  Seward,  of  New  York ;  Abraham  Lincoln, 
of  Illinois ;  William  L.  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey ;  Simon 
Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio; 
Edward  Bates,  of  Missouri ;  and  John  McLean,  of  Ohio. 

The  first  two  of  these  names,  in  particular,  were 
greeted  with  loud  and  long-continued  applause,  and  it 
soon  become  apparent  that  the  chief  contest  was  to 
be  between  the  experienced  and  polished  statesman  of 
New  York,  and  the  homely,  clear-headed  pioneer  of  the 
west. 

The  first  ballot  gave  Mr.  Seward  one  hundred  and 


NOMINATED    AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  163 

seventy-three  and  one-half  votes  to  one  hundred  and 
two  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  rest  being  scattered.  On  the 
second  ballot  the  first  indication  of  the  result  was  felt, 
wThen  the  chairman  of  the  Vermont  delegation,  which 
had  been  divided  on  the  previous  ballot,  announced 
when  the  name  of  that  State  was  called,  that  "Vermont 
casts  her  ten  votes  for  the  young  giant  of  the  west, 
Abraham  Lincoln."  On  the  second  ballot,  Mr.  Seward 
had  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  and  one-half  to  one 
hundred  and  eighty-one  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  on  the  third 
ballot  Mr.  Lincoln  received  two  hundred  and  thirty 
votes,  being  within  one  and  one-half  of  a  majority. 
The  vote  was  not  announced,  but  so  many  everywhere 
had  kept  the  count  that  it  was  known  throughout  the 
Convention  at  once.  Mr.  Carlin,  of  Ohio,  rose  and 
announced  a  change  in  the  vote  of  the  Ohio  delegation 
of  four  votes  in  favor  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  whereupon  the 
Convention  boiled  over  into  a  state  of  the  wildest  ex 
citement. 

Mr.  Andrews,  of  Massachusetts,  then  rose  and  corrected 
the  vote  of  Massachusetts,  by  changing  four  votes,  and 
giving  them  to  Lincoln,  thus  nominating  him  by  two 
and  a  half  majority. 

The  Convention  hereupon  became  still  more  wildly 
excited. 

A  large  portion  of  the  delegates,  who  had  kept  tally, 
at  once  said  the  struggle  was  decided,  and  half  the  Con 
vention  rose,  cheering,  shouting,  and  waving  hats.  The 
cheers  of  the  audience  within  were  answered  by  those 
of  a  yet  larger  crowd  without,  to  whom  the  result  was 
announced.  Cannon  roared,  bands  played,  banners 
waved,  and  the  excited  Republicans  of  Chicago  cheered 


164  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

themselves  hoarse.  It  was  long  before  the  Convention 
could  calm  itself  enough  to  proceed  to  business. 

Then,  as  the  choice  became  certain,  State  after  State 
struggled  to  be  next  in  succession  to  change  votes  for 
Lincoln.  The  whole  number  of  votes  cast  at  the  next 
ballot  was  four  hundred  and  sixty-six,  of  which  two 
hundred  and  thirty-four  were  necessary  to  a  choice. 
Three  hundred  and  fifty-four  were  cast  for  Abraham 
Lincoln,  who  was,  thereupon,  declared  duly  nomi 
nated. 

When  the  loud  applause  with  which  the  nomination 
was  greeted  had  somewhat  subsided,  Mr.  William 
Evarts,  of  New  York  city,  came  forward  and  moved 
that  the  nomination  be  made  unanimous.  The  motion 
was  seconded  by  Mr.  Andrews,  of  Massachusetts ;  and 
the  nomination  was,  accordingly,  concurred  in  with 
unanimity. 

The  excitement,  consequent  upon  the  nomination, 
spread  from  the  Convention  to  the  audience  within  the 
building,  and  from  them,  like  wildfire,  to  the  crowds 
without,  to  whom  the  result  had  been  announced.  At 
the  close  of  Mr.  Evarts'  remarks,  a  life-size  portrait  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  been  displayed  from  the  platform,  which  was 
greeted  with  bursts  of  uncontrollable  applause.  The 
building  shook  with  the  shouts  of  tiie  delighted  thou 
sands  beneath  its  roof,  and,  with  cheer  upon  cheer,  the 
multitude  in  the  streets  caught  up  the  glad  acclaim; 
while,  amid  the  boom  of  artillery  salutes,  the  undula 
tion  of  banners,  and  the  joyful  strains  of  music,  the 
intelligence  of  the  people's  choice  flashed  over  the  wires 
from  Maine  to  Kansas,  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf. 

The  Convention  completed  their  work  the  same  after- 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  165 

noon,  by  the  nomination  of  the  Hon.  Hannibal  Hamlin, 
of  Maine,  for  Vice  President. 

A  pleasant  anecdote  is  related  of  the  manner  in  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  received  his  nomination. 

"  He  was  at  Springfield  during  the  sitting  of  the  Convention ; 
and,  having  left  the  telegraphic  office  after  learning  the  result 
of  the  first  two  ballots,  was  quietly  conversing  with  some 
friends  in  the  office  of  the  State  Journal,  while  the  casting  of 
the  third  ballot  was  in  progress.  In  a  little  time,  the  result 
was  received  at  the  telegraph  office.  The  superintendent,  who 
was  present,  hastily  wrote  upon  a  scrap  of  paper :  '  Mr.  Lincoln, 
you  are  nominated  on  the  third  ballot ;'  which  he  immediately 
sent,  by  a  boy,  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  A  shout  of  applause  greeted 
the  message  throughout  the  office  of  the  Journal,  but  Mr. 
Lincoln  received  it  in  silence.  Then  he  put  the  paper  in  his 
pocket,  arose,  and  said  quietly,  before  he  left  the  room :  '  There 
is  a  little  woman  down  at  our  house  would  like  to  hear  this 
I'll  go  down  and  tell  her.'  This  was  his  excuse  for  retiring  to 
the  privacy  of  his  own  room,  where  he  might  commune  with 
himself  alone." 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  National  Convention 
to  wait  upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  inform  him  of  his  nomi 
nation,  immediately  performed  their  duty.  A  corre 
spondent  of  the  Chicago  Journal  gives  the  subjoined 
graphic  account  of  the  visit  of  the  committee  : 

"  The  excursion  train  bearing  the  committee  appointed  by 
the  National  Convention  at  Chicago  to  wait  on  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
notify  hirn  of  his  nomination,  consisting  of  the  President  of  the 
Convention,  the  Hon.  Geo.  Ashmun  of  Massachusetts,  and  the 
chairmen  of  the  different  State  delegations,  arrived  at  Springfield, 
Friday  evening,  at  seven  o'clock. 


166  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

"A  great  crowd  was  awaiting  them  at  the  depot,  and  greeted 
theii  coming  with  enthusiastic  shouts.  From  the  depot  they 
marched  to  the  hotel,  accompanied  by  the  crowd,  and  two  or 
three  bands  discoursing  stirring  music.  The  appearance  and 
names  of  the  more  distinguished  delegates  were  received  with 
vociferous  applause,  especially  the  venerable  and  famous 
Francis  P.  Blair  of  Maryland,  the  Hon.  E.  D.  Morgan,  Governor 
•of  New  York,  and  Governor  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts.* 

"  When  they  arrived  at  the  hotel,  the  crowd,  still  increasing, 
deployed  off  to  the  State  House  square,  to  give  vent  to  their 
enthusiasm  in  almost  continual  cheers,  and  listen  to  fervent 
speeches. 

"  Having  partaken  of  a  bountiful  supper,  the  delegates  pro 
ceeded  quietly,  by  such  streets  as  would  escape  the  crowd,  to 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Quite  a  number  of  outsiders 
were  along,  among  whom  were  half  a  dozen  editors,  including 
the  Hon.  Henry  J.  Raymond,  of  The  New  York  Times. 

"Among  the  delegates  composing  the  committee  were  many 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  that  great  Convention,  such 
as  Mr.  Evarts,  of  New  York,  the  accomplished  and  eloquent 
spokesman  of  the  delegation  from  the  Empire  State,  and  friend 
of  Mr.  Seward ;  Judge  Kelley  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  tall  form 
and  sonorous  eloquence  excited  so  much  attention  ;  Mr.  Andrews 
of  Massachusetts,  the  round-faced,  handsome  man,  who  made 
such  a  beautiful  and  telling  speech  on  behalf  of  the  old  Bay 
State,  in  seconding  the  motion  to  make  Lincoln's  nomination 
unanimous;  Mr.  Simmons,  the  gray-headed  United  States 
Senator  from  Rhode  Island ;  Mr.  Ashmun,  the  President  of  the 
Convention,  so  long  the  bosom  friend  and  ardent  admirer  of 
Daniel  Webster,  and  the  leader  of  the  Massachusetts  Whigs ; 
the  veteran  Blair,  and  his  gallant  sons,  Frank  P.  and  Mont 
gomery  ;  brave  old  Blakie,  of  Kentucky ;  Gallagher,  the  literary 
man  of  Ohio ;  burly,  loud-voiced  Carter  of  Ohio,  who  announced 
the  four  votes  that  gave  Lincoln  the  nomination,  and  others 
that  I  have  not  time  to  mention. 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  167 

"  In  a  few  minutes  (it  now  being  about  8  P.  M.),  they  were 
at  Lincoln's  house— an  elegant  two-story  dwelling,  fronting 
west,  of  pleasing  exterior,  with  a  neat  and  roomy  appearance, 
situated  in  the  quiet  part  of  the  town,  surrounded  with  shrub 
bery.  As  they  were  passing  in  at  the  gate  and  up  the  steps, 
two  handsome  lads  of  eight  or  ten  years,  met  them  with  a 
courteous  'Good-evening,  gentlemen.' 

"  'Are  you  Mr.  Lincoln's  son  ?'  said  Mr.  Evarts  of  New  York. 
'Yes,  sir,' said  the  boy.  'Then  let's  shake  hands;'  and  they 
began  greeting  him  so  warmly  as  to  excite  the  younger  one's 
attention,  who  had  stood  silently  by  the  opposite  gatepost,  and 
he  sang  out,  '  I'm  a  Lincoln,  too  ;'  whereupon  several  delegates, 
amid  much  laughter,  saluted  the  young  Lincoln. 

"  Having  all  collected  in  the  large  north  parlor,  Mr.  Ashmun 
addressed  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  stood  at  the  east  end  of  the  room, 
as  follows : 

"'I  have,  sir,  the  honor,  in  behalf  of  the  gentlemen  who  are 
present,  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Republican  Convention, 
recently  assembled  at  Chicago,  to  discharge  a  most  pleasant 
duty.  We  have  come,  sir,  under  a  vote  of  instructions  to  that 
committee,  to  notify  you  that  you  have  been  selected  by  the 
Convention  of  the  Republicans  at  Chicago,  for  President  of  the 
United  States.  They  instruct  us,  sir,  to  notify  you  of  that 
selection,  and  that  committee  deem  it  not  only  respectful 
to  yourself,  but  appropriate  to  the  important  matter  which  they 
have  in  hand,  that  they  should  come  in  person,  and  present  to 
you  the  authentic  evidence  of  the  action  of  that  Convention ; 
and,  sir,  without  any  phrase  which  shall  either  be  considered 
personally  plauditory  to  yourself,  or  which  shall  have  any 
reference  to  the  principles  involved  in  the  questions  which  are 
connected  with  your  nomination,  I  desire  to  present  to  you  the 
letter  which  has  been  prepared,  and  which  informs  you  of  the 
nomination,  and  with  it  the  platform,  resolutions,  and  senti 
ments,  which  the  Convention  adopted.  Sir,  at  your  convenience, 


168  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

we  shall  be  glad  to  receive  from  you  such  a  response  as  it  may 
be  your  pleasure  to  give  us.' 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  listened  with  a  countenance  grave  and  earnest, 
almost  to  sternness,  regarding  Mr.  Ashmun  with  the  profoundest 
attention,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  that  gentleman's  remarks, 
after  an  impressive  pause,  he  replied  in  a  clear  but  subdued 
voice,  with  that  perfect  enunciation,  which  always  marks  his 
utterance,  and  a  dignified  sincerity  of  manner  suited  to  the  man 
and  the  occasion,  in  the  following  words: 

" '  MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  :  I 
tender  to  you,  and  through  you  to  the  Republican  National 
Convention,  and  all  the  people  represented  in  it,  my  profoundest 
thanks  for  the  high  honor  done  me,  which  you  now  formally 
announce.  Deeply,  and  even  painfully  sensible  of  the  great 
responsibility  which  is  inseparable  from  this  high  honor — a 
responsibility  which  I  could  almost  wish  had  fallen  upon  some 
one  of  the  far  more  eminent  men  and  experienced  statesmen 
whose  distinguished  names  were  before  the  Convention,  I  shall, 
by  your  leave,  consider  more  fully  the  resolutions  of  the  Con 
vention,  denominated  the  platform,  and  without  unnecessary  or 
unreasonable  delay,  respond  to  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  in  writing, 
not  doubting  that  the  platform  will  be  found  satisfactory,  and 
the  nomination  gratefully  accepted. 

"  'And  now  I  will  not  longer  defer  the  pleasure  of  taking  you, 
and  each  of  you,  by  the  hand.' 

"Mr.  Ashmun  then  introduced  the  delegates  personally  to 
Mr.  Lincoln,  who  shook  them  heartily  by  the  hand.  Governor 
Morgan,  Mr.  Blair,  Senator  Simmons,  Mr.  Welles,  and  Mr.  Fogg 
of  Connecticut,  were  first  introduced ;  then  came  hearty  old 
Mr.  Blakie,  of  Kentucky,  Lincoln's  native  State ;  and,  of  course, 
they  had  to  compare  notes,  inquire  up  old  neighbors,  and,  if 
the  time  had  allowed,  they  would  soon  have  started  to  tracing 
out  the  old  pioneer  families.  Major  Ben.  Eggleston,  of  Cin 
cinnati,  was  next,  and  his  greeting  and  reception  were  equally 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  169 

hearty.  Tall  Judge  Kelley,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  then  presented 
by  Mr.  Ashmun  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  As  they  shook  hands,  each 
eyed  the  other's  ample  proportions,  with  genuine  admiration — 
Lincoln,  for  once,  standing  erect  as  an  Indian  during  this  even 
ing,  and  showing  his  tall  form  in  its  full  dignity. 

"'What's  your  height?'  inquired  Lincoln. 

"' Six  feet  three ;  what  is  yours,  Mr.  Lincoln?'  said  Judge 
Kelley,  in  his  round,  deliberate  tone. 

"  '  Six  feet  four,'  replied  Lincoln. 

" '  Then/  said  Judge  Kelley,  '  Pennsylvania  bows  to  Illinois. 
My  dear  man,  for  years  my  heart  has  been  aching  for  a  Presi 
dent  that  I  could  look  up  to,  and  I've  found  him  at  last,  in  the 
land  where  we  thought  there  were  none  but  little  giants.'* 

"  Mr.  Evarts,  of  New  York,  expressed  very  gracefully  his 
gratification  at  meeting  Mr.  Lincoln,  whom  he  had  heard  at 
Cooper  Institute,  but  where,  on  account  of  the  pressure  and 
crowd,  he  had  to  go  away  without  an  introduction. 

"  Mr.  Andrews,  of  Massachusetts,  said,  '  We  claim  you,  Mr. 
Lincoln,  as  coming  from  Massachusetts,  because  all  the  old 
Lincoln  name  are  from  Plymouth  Colony.' 

"'We'll  consider  it  so  this  evening,'  said  Lincoln. 

"Various  others  were  presented,  when  Mr.  Ashmun  asked 
them  to  come  up  and  introduce  themselves. 

"'Come  up,  gentlemen,'  said  Mr.  Judd,  'it's  nobody  but  Old 
Abe  Lincoln.'  The  greatest  good  feeling  prevailed.  As  the 
delegates  fell  back,  each  congratulated  the  other  that  they  had 
got  just  the  sort  of  man.  A  neatly-dressed  New  Eaglander 
remarked  to  us,  '  I  was  afraid  I  should  meet  a  gigantic  rail- 
splitter,  with  the  manners  of  a  flatboatman,  and  the  ugliest  face 
in  creation  ;  and  he's  a  complete  gentleman.' 

"  Mrs.  Lincoln  received  the  delegates  in  the  south  parlor, 
where  they  were  severally  conducted  after  their  official  duty 


*  Judge  Doug-las,  the  Democratic  nominee  for  President,  was  familiarly 
Known  as  "  The  Little  Giant." 


170  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

was  performed.  It  will,  no  dpubt,  be  a  gratification  to  those 
who  have  not  seen  this  amiable  and  accomplished  lady,  to  know 
that  she  adorns  a  drawing-room,  presides  over  a  table,  does  the 
honors  on  an  occasion  like  the  present,  or  will  do  the  honors 
at  the  White  House,  with  appropriate  grace.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  Dr.  Todd,  formerly  of  Kentucky,  and  long  one  of  the  promi 
nent  citizens  of  Springfield.  She  is  one  of  three  sisters,  noted 
for  their  beauty  and  accomplishments.  One  of  them  is  now 
the  wife  of  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  Esq.,  son  of  old  Governor 
Edwards.  Mrs.  Lincoln  is  now  apparently  about  thirty-five 
years  of  age,  is  a  very  handsome  woman,  with  a  vivacious  and 
graceful  manner ;  is  an  interesting,  and  often  sparkling  talker. 
Standing  by  her  almost  gigantic  husband,  she  appears  petite, 
but  is  really  about  the  average  height  of  ladies.  They  have 
three  sons,  two  of  them  already  mentioned,  and  an  older  one — 
a  young  man  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  years,  now  at  Harvard 
College,  Massachusetts. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  bore  himself  during  the  evening  with  dignity 
and  ease.  His  kindly  and  sincere  manner,  frank  and  honest 
expression,  unaffected,  pleasant  conversation,  soon  made  every 
one  feel  at  ease,  and  rendered  the  hour  and  a  half  which  they 
spent  with  him  one  of  groat  pleasure  to  the  delegates.  He  was 
dressed  with  perfect  neatness,  almost  elegance — though,  as  all 
Illinoisans  know,  he  usually  is  as  plain  in  his  attire  as  he  is 
modest  and  unassuming  in  deportment.  He  stood  erect,  dis 
playing  to  excellent  advantage  his  tall  and  manly  figure. 

"  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  people  of  Springfield  were 
delirious  with  joy  and  enthusiasm  that  evening.  As  the  dele 
gates  returned  to  the  hotel — the  sky  blazing  with  rockets, 
cannon  roaring  at  intervals,  bonfires  blazing  at  the  street- 
corners,  long  rows  of  buildings  brilliantly  illuminated,  the 
State  House  overflowing  with  shouting  people,  speakers  awa 
kening  new  enthusiasm — one  of  the  New  England  delegates 
remarked  that  there  were  more  enthusiasm  and  skyrockets 
than  he  ever  saw  in  a  town  of  that  size  before." 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  171 

A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post, 
described  this  visit  to  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  following 
manner : 

"It  had  been  reported  by  some  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  political 
enemies,  that  he  was  a  man  who  lived  in  the  '  lowest  hoosier 
style/  and  I  thought  I  would  see  for  myself.  Accordingly,  as 
soon  as  the  business  of  the  Convention  was  closed,  I  took  the 
cars  for  Springfield.  I  found  Mr.  Lincoln  living  in  a  handsome 
but  not  pretentious  double  two-story  frame  house,  having  a 
wide  hall  running  through  the  centre,  with  parlors  on  both 
sides,  neatly  but  not  ostentatiously  furnished.  It  was  just  such 
a  dwelling  as  a  majority  of  the  well-to-do  residents  of  these 
fine  western  towns  occupy.  Every  thing  about  it  had  a  look 
of  comfort  and  independence.  The  library,  I  remarked  in 
passing  particularly,  and  I  was  pleased  to  see  long  rows  of 
books,  which  told  of  the  scholarly  tastes  and  culture  of  the 
family. 

"Lincoln  received  us  with  great,  and,  to  me,  surprising  ur 
banity.  I  had  seen  him  before  in  New  York,  and  brought 
with  me  an  impression  of  his  awkward  and  ungainly  manner ; 
but  in  his  own  house,  where  he  doubtless  feels  himself  freer 
than  in  the  strange  New  York  circles,  he  had  thrown  this  off, 
and  appeared  easy,  if  not  graceful.  He  is,  as  you  know,  a  tall 
lank  man,  with  a  long  neck,  and  his  ordinary  movements  are 
unusually  angular,  even  out  west.  As  soon,  however,  as  he 
gets  interested  in  conversation,  his  face  lights  up,  and  his  atti 
tudes  and  gestures  assume  a  certain  dignity  and  impressivenes. 
His  conversation  is  fluent,  agreeable,  and  polite.  You  see  at 
once  from  it  that  he  is  a  man  of  decided  and  original  character. 
His  views  are  all  his  own — such  as  he  has  worked  out  from  a 
patient  and  varied  scrutiny  of  life,  and  not  such  as  he  has 
learned  from  others.  Yet  he  cannot  be  called  opinionated.  He 
listens  to  others  like  one  eager  to  learn,  and  his  replies  evince 
at  the  same  time  both  modesty  and  self-reliance.  I  should  say 
that  sound  common-sense  was  the  principal  quality  of  his  mind, 


1/2  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

although  at  times  a  striking  phrase  or  word  reveals  a  peculiar 
vein  of  thought.  He  tells  a  story  well,  with  a  strong  idiomatic 
smack,  and  seems  to  relish  humor,  both  in  himself  and  others. 
Our  conversation  was  mainly  political,  but  of  a  general  nature. 
One  thing  Mr.  Lincoln  remarked  which  I  will  venture  to  repeat. 
He  said  that  in  the  coming  Presidential  canvass  he  was  wholly 
uncommitted  to  any  cabals  or  cliques,  and  that  he  meant  to 
keep  himself  free  from  them,  and  from  all  pledges  and  pro 
mises. 

"  I  had  the  pleasure,  also,  of  a  brief  interview  with  Mrs. 
Lincoln,  and,  in  the  circumstances  of  these  persons,  I  trust  I 
am  not  trespassing  on  the  sanctities  of  private  life  in  saying  a 
word  in  regard  to  that  lady.  Whatever  of  awkwardness  may 
be  ascribed  to  her  husband,  there  is  none  of  it  in  her.  On  the 
contrary,  she  is  quite  a  pattern  of  lady-like  courtesy  and  polish. 
She  converses  with  freedom  and  grace,  and  is  thoroughly  aufait 
in  all  the  little  amenities  of  society.  Mrs.  Lincoln  belongs,  by 
the  mother's  side,  to  the  Preston  family  of  Kentucky,  has  re 
ceived  a  liberal  and  refined  education,  and,  should  she  ever 
reach  it,  will  adorn  the  White  House.  She  is,  I  am  told,  a 
strict  and  consistent  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

"  Not  a  man  of  us  who  saw  Mr.  Lincoln  but  was  impressed 
by  his  ability  and  character.  In  illustration  of  the  last,  let  me 
mention  one  or  two  things,  which  your  readers  I  think  will  be 
pleased  to  hear.  Mr.  Lincoln's  early  life,  as  you  know,  was 
passed  in  the  roughest  kind  of  experience  on  the  frontier,  and 
among  the  roughest  sort  of  people.  Yet,  I  have  been  told,  that 
in  the  face  of  all  these  influences,  he  is  a  strictly  temperate 
man,  never  using  wine  or  strong  drink ;  and,  stranger  still,  he 
does  not  '  twist  the  filthy  weed,'  nor  smoke,  nor  use  profane 
language  of  any  kind.  When  we  consider  how  common  these 
vices  are  all  over  our  country,  and  particularly  in  the  west,  it 
must  be  admitted  that  it  exhibits  no  little  strength  of  character 
to  have  refrained  from  them. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  is  popular  with  his  friends  and  neighbors ;  the 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  173 

habitual  equity  of  his  mind  points  him  out  as  a  peacemaker 
and  composer  of  difficulties ;  his  integrity  is  proverbial ;  and 
his  legal  abilities  are  regarded  as  of  the  highest  order.  The 
soubriquet  of  '  Honest  Old  Abe,'  has  been  won  by  years  of 
upright  conduct,  and  is  the  popular  homage  to  his  probity. 
He  carries  the  marks  of  honesty  in  his  face  and  entire  de 
portment. 

"  I  am  the  more  convinced,  by  this  personal  intercourse  wit  a 
Mr.  Lincoln,  that  the  action  of  our  Convention  was  altogether 
judicious  and  proper." 

On  the  23d?  Mr.  Lincoln  formally  replied  to  the 
official  announcement  of  his  nomination  by  the  follow 
ing  brief  letter : 

"  SPRINGFIELD,  ILLINOIS,  May  23d,  1860. 

"HoN.  GEORGE  ASHMUN,  President  of  the  Republican  National 
Convention : 

"SiR : — I  accept  the  nomination  tendered  me  by  the  Conven 
tion  over  which  you  presided,  and  of  which  I  am  formally 
apprised  in  the  letter  of  yourself  and  others,  acting  as  a 
committee  of  the  Convention  for  that  purpose. 

"  The  declaration  of  principles  and  sentiments,  which  accom 
panies  your  letter,  meets  my  approval ;  and  it  shall  be  my  care 
not  to  violate  or  disregard  it,  in  any  part. 

"  Imploring  the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence,  and  with 
due  regard  to  the  views  and  feelings  of  all  who  were  repre 
sented  in  the  Convention ;  to  the  rights  of  all  the  States  and 
Territories,  and  people  of  the  nation  ;  to  the  inviolability  of  the 
Constitution,  and  the  perpetual  union,  harmony  and  prosperity 
of  all,  I  am  most  happy  to  cooperate  for  the  practical  success 
of  the  principles  declared  by  the  Convention. 

"  Your  obliged  friend  and  fellow-citizen, 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


174  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

To  the  western  Republicans,  the  news  of  this  nomi 
nation  was,  generally,  very  acceptable.  Not  only  did 
they  recognize  in  Abraham  Lincoln  a  man  of  integrity 
and  simple  virtue,  but  one  in  whom  was  embodied  the 
truly  democratic  element  of  free  America,  a  freedom- 
lover,  a  right-respecter,  and  a  noble,  talented  statesman, 
sprung  from  the  very  heart  of  the  masses.  Confident 
of  their  man  and  devoted  to  the  principles  set  forth  in 
the  platform  adopted  by  the  Convention — they  entered 
the  contest  with  a  zeal  and  industry  which  were  without 
parallel  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

But,  in  the  Eastern  States,  there  was  at  first,  a  feel 
ing  of  surprise  and  disappointment,  at  the  nomination 
made  at  Chicago.  Mr.  Seward,  then  in  the  culmination 
of  his  good  fame,  was  the  favorite  of  the  East,  and 
when  the  new  and  comparatively  unknown  name  of 
Lincoln  was  announced,  they  heard  the  result  coldly, 
and  with  despondency.  To  them  he  was  an  almost 
unknown,  an  unprepossessing  man,  apparently  ill-fitted 
for  a  crisis  which  they  felt  to  be  the  gravest  in  American 
history,  and  one  demanding  all  the  powers  of  the  ablest 
and  most  experienced  statesman.  They  took  him,  as  it 
were,  "  on  trust,"  on  the  recommendation  of  his 
western  friends.  "  But"  as  has  been  well  said,  "  it 
turned  out  not  to  be  a  chance.  The  profound  good 
opinion  which  the  people  of  Illinois  and  of  the  West 
had  conceived  of  him,  and  which  they  had  imparted 
to  their  colleagues,  that  they  also  might  justify  them 
selves  to  their  constituents  at  home,  was  not  rash, 
though  they  did  not  begin  to  know  the  richness  of  his 
worth." 

So  the  party  took  up  the  ticket  with  zeal  and  the 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  175 

country  rang  with  the  battle-cry  of  "  Lincoln  and 
Hamlin." 

The  Democratic  party  was  rent  in  twain.  Many  of 
its  life-long  supporters,  alarmed  at  the  violence  of 
the  southern  leaders,  the  imperiousness  of  their  de 
mands,  and  their  manifest  determination  to  drive 
matters  to  the  alternative  of  civil  war,  had  rallied 
around  Judge  Douglas,  hoping  that  a  moderate  policy, 
under  a  Democratic  President,  might  influence  a  return 
to  calmness  and  reason,  and  ultimately  to  a  compromise 
between  the  extreme  elements  then  agitating  the 
country.  The  Democratic  Convention  at  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  was,  however,  broken  up  by  the  ultraism  of  the 
South,  and  the  delegates"  formed  two  different  bodies, 
with  separate  platforms  and  candidates.  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  was  the  nominee  of  the  moderate  or  "  anti- 
slavery,  total  indifference"  party,  with  Herschell  V. 
Johnson  as  candidate  for  Vice  President;  and  John  G. 
Breckinridge,  then  actually  Vice  President. of  the  United 
States,  was  the  Presidential  candidate  of  the  extreme 
Southern  men,  with  Mr.  Lane,  of  Oregon.  A  fourth, 
or  "conservative  Union"  ticket  was  also  presented  to 
the  public,  in  the  vain  hope  of  healing  dissension,  with 
the  names  of  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  and  Edward 
Everett,  of  Massachusetts. 

The  country  "stripped  itself"  promptly  and  zealously 
to  the  work  of  canvass  and  election,  with  an  interest 
and  deep  feeling  which  it  is  impossible  to  describe. 
The  result,  however,  could  not  long  be  doubtful.  The 
Republicans  were  enthusiastic,  well  organized,  and  hope 
ful*  The  Democracy  was  a  house  divided  against 
itself,  and  consequently  dispirited ;  while  the  southern 


176  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

section  absolutely  courted  a  defeat,  whose  certainty 
they  had  already  planned,  as  a  pretext  for  the  secession 
movement  which  they  contemplated. 

The  result  of  the  ensuing  election,  of  November  6th, 
1860,  was,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  received  four  hundred  and 
ninety-one  thousand,  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  ove" 
Mr.  Douglas;  one  million,  eighteen  thousand,  four 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  over  Mr.  Breckinridge ;  and 
one  million,  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand, 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-one  over  Mr.  Bell ;  and  the 
electoral  vote,  subsequently  proclaimed  by  Congress, 
Was — for  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  one  hundred 
and  eighty;  for  John  C.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky, 
seventy-two ;  for  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  thirty-nine ; 
for  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  twelve.  The  follow 
ing  States  cast  their  electoral  votes  for  Mr.  Lincoln : 
Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Iowa,  Wisconsin.  Minnesota, 
California — sixteen  in  number. 

The  votes  of  Maryland,  Delaware,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Arkansas  and  Texas,  eleven  States,  were 
cast  for  Breckinridge  and  Lane.  The  votes  of  Virginia, 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  were  cast  for  Bell  and  Everett. 
The  electoral  vote  of  Missouri  was  given  for  Douglas 
and  Johnson.  The  vote  of  New  Jersey  was  divided, 
four  being  given  for  Lincoln,  and  three  for  Douglas. 

The  aggregate  popular  vote  for  each  of  the  Presi 
dential  candidates,  at  this  election,  was  as  follows  :  for 
Mr.  Lincoln,  one  million,  eight  hundred  and  siarty- 
six  thousand,  four  hundred  and  fifty-two;  for  Mr. 


NOMINATED   AND   ELECTED   PRESIDENT.  177 

Douglas,  one  million,  three  hundred  and  seventy-five 
thousand,  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven ;  for  Mr.  Breck- 
inridge,  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand,  nine 
hundred  and  fifty-three ;  and  for  Mr.  Bell,  five  hundred 
and  ninety  thousand,  six  hundred  and  thirty-one.  The 
total  vote  for  the  two  loyal  candidates,  was  three 
million,  two  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand,  six  hun 
dred  and  nine. 

Among  the  many  stirring  songs,  which  were  at  once 
the  effect  and  the  stimulant  of  the  popular  enthusiasm 
during  the  ensuing  campaign,  none  were  more  popular 
or  meritorious  than  the  following,  by  William  Henry 
Burleigh,  of  New  York  : 


"  Up,  again  for  the  conflict !  our  banner  fling  out, 
And  rally  around  it  with  song  and  with  shout ! 
Stout  of  heart,  firm  of  hand,  should  the  gallant  boys  be, 
Who  bear  to  the  battle  the  Flag  of  the  Free ! 
Like  our  fathers,  when  Liberty  called  to  the  strife, 
They  should  pledge  to  her  cause  fortune,  honor,  and  life  ! 
And  follow  wherever  she  beckons  them  on, 
1  Till  Freedom  exults  in  a  victory  won  ! 

Then  fling  out  the  banner,  the  old  starry  banner, 
The  battle-torn  banner  that  beckons  us  on ! 


"  They  come  from  the  hillside,  they  come  from  the  glen — 
From  the  streets  thronged  with  traffic,  and  surging  with  men  ; 
From  loom  and  from  ledger,  from  workshop  and  farm, 
The  fearless  of  heart,  and  the  mighty  of  arm. 
As  the  mountain-born  torrents  exultingly  leap, 
When  their  ice-fetters  melt,  to  the  breast  of  the  deep ; 
As  the  winds  of  the  prairie,  the  waves  of  the  sea, 
They  are  coming— are  coming— the  Sons  of  the  Free  ! 
Then  fling  out  the  banner,  the  old  starry  banner, 
The  war-tattered  banner,  the  Flag  of  the  Free  I 
12     - 


178  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

1  Our  Leader  is  one  who,  with  conquerless  will, 
Has  climbed  from  the  base  to  the  brow  of  the  hill ; 
Undaunted  in  peril,  unwavering  in  strife, 
He  has  fought  a  good  fight  in  the  Battle  of  Life.       • 
And  we  trust  him  as  one  who,  come  woe  or  come  weal, 
Is  as  firm  as  the  rock,  and  as  true  as  the  steel, 
Eight  loyal  and  brave,  with  no  stain  on  his  crest, 
Then  hurrah,  boys,  for  honest '  Old  Abe  of  the  West !' 
And  fling  out  your  banner,  the  old  starry  banner, 
The  signal  of  triumph  for  '  Abe  of  the  West !' 


'  The  West,  whose  broad  acres,  from  lake-shore  to  sea, 
Now  wait  for  the  harvest  and  homes  of  the  free  ! 
Shall  the  dark  tide  of  Slavery  roll  o'er  the  sod, 
That  Freedom  makes  bloom  like  the  garden  of  God  ? 
The  bread  of  our  children  be  torn  from  their  mouth, 
To  feed  the  fierce  dragon  that  preys  on  the  South? 
No,  never  !  the  trust  which  our  Washington  laid 
On  us,  for  the  Future,  shall  ne'er  be  betrayed  ! 

Then  fling  out  the  banner,  the  old  starry  banner, 
And  on  to  the  conflict  with  hearts  undismayed !" 


THE  GATHERING    STORM.  179- 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    GATHERING    STORM   IN    THE    SOUTHERN   POLITICAL 
HORIZON. 

Traitorous  movements  in  the  South. — Duplicity  of  Southern  men  in  the 
Cabinet. — Imbecility  or  complicity  of  President  Buchanan. — Secession 
of  South  Carolina. — The  Montgomery  (Ala.)  Convention. — Formation 
of  the  new  Confederacy. — Election  of  Davis  as  its  Head. — Policy  of  the 
Confederacy  towards  the  United  States. — Opinions  of  the  Kebel 
Leaders^ — Eesignation  of  Southern  men  from  the  United  States 
Cabinet  and  Congress. — Course  of  events  at  the  North. — The  Critten- 
den  Compromise. — Resolutions  of  the  House. — The  Peace  Convention, 
and  its  Resolutions. 

SCARCELY  was  the  result  of  the  popular  vote  made 
known  than  various  movements  in  the  southern  States 
indicated  a  purpose  of  traitorous  resistance.,  and  it  soon 
became  apparent  that  even  members  of  the  Government 
under  the  Presidency  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  had  officially 
given  it  their  sanction  and  aid.  On  the  29th  of  Octo 
ber,  General  Scott  sent  to  the  President  and  John  B. 
Floyd,  his  Secretary  of  War,  a  letter  expressing  appre 
hensions  lest  the  southern  people  should  seize  some  of 
the  Federal  forts  in  the  southern  States,  and  advising 
that  they  should  be  immediately  garrisoned  by  way  of 
precaution.  The  Secretary  of  War,  according  to  state 
ments,  subsequently  made  by  one  of  his  eulogists  in 
Virginia,  "thwarted,  objected,  resisted,  and  forbade" 
the  adoption  of  those  measures,  which,  according  to  the 
same  authority,  if  carried  into  execution,  would  have 


180  THE   LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

defeated  the  conspiracy,  and  rendered  imppssible  the 
formation  of  a  Southern  Confederacy.  A  subsequent 
official  report  from  the  Ordnance  Department,  dated 
January,  16,  1861,  "  shows  that,  during  the  year  1860, 
and  previous  to  the  Presidential  election,  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  thousand  muskets  had  been  removed  from 
northern  armories  and  sent  to  southern  arsenals,  by  a 
single  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  issued  on  the  30th 
of  December,  1859."  The  quotas  of  Government  arms 
for  the  southern  States  were,  thus,  not  only  filled  by 
the  Secretary,  with  the  full  knowledge  that  they  were 
to  be  used  against  the  laws  and  the  Constitution,  but 
the  perfidious  official,  anticipating  the  resolution,  sent 
two  years'  quotas  where  only  .one  was  due — thus  strip 
ping  the  arsenals,  and  depriving  the  northern  States 
of  the  material  for  arming  their  citizens  to  preserve  the 
Union. 

And,  further  to  aid  the  plans  of  the  conspirators,  on 
the  20th  of  November  the  Attorney-General,  Hon.  John 
S.  Black,  in  reply  to  inquiries  of  the  President,  gave 
him  the  official  opinion  that  Congress  had  no  right  to 
carry  on  war  against  any  State,  either  to  prevent  a 
threatened  violation  of  the  Constitution  or  to  enforce 
an  acknowledgment  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  is  supreme :  a  theory  which  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  the  President  had  adopted  as  the  basis 
and  guide  of  his  executive  action. 

Meanwhile,  southern  men,  members  of  Mr.  Buchanan's 
cabinet  were,  during  these  months,  as  they  had  been 
previously,  busy  plundering  the  public  treasury  of 
money  and  munitions  of  war,  and  in  every  way  con 
tributing  to  the  future  embarrassment  of  the  country. 


THE   GATHERING    STORM.  181 

And  the  pitiable,  weak-minded,  terrified  chief  magis 
trate,  sat  trembling  in  the  gubernational  chair,  pleading 
with  traitors  to  wait  until  he  should  have  resigned  his 
office,  and  declaring  that  he  could  see  no  constitutional 
power  in  the  Government  to  defend  its  laws,  or  vindicate 
its  authority.  A  nation's  silent  contempt  had  fallen 
upon  him,  and  there  it  will  forever  rest. 

We  quote  from  Mr.  Raymond's  admirable  summary 
of  events : 

*  '  South  Carolina  took  the  lead  in  the  secession  movement. 
Her  Legislature  assembled  on  the  4th  of  November,  I860,  and 
after  casting  the  electoral  vote  of  the  State  for  John  C.  Breck- 
inridge  to  be  President  of  the  United  States,  passed  an  act 
the  next  day  calling  a  State  Convention  to  meet  at  Columbia 
on  the  17th  of  December.  On  the  10th,  F.  W.  Pickens  was 
elected  Governor,  and,  in  his  inaugural,  declared  the  deter 
mination  of  the  State  to  secede,  on  the  ground,  that,  '  in  the 
recent  election  for  President  and  Vice-President,  the  North 
had  carried  the  election  upon  principles  that  make  it  no  longer 
safe  for  us  to  rely  upon  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government 
or  the  guarantees  of  the  Federal  compact.  This/  he  added, 
'  is  the  great  overt  act  of  the  people  of  the  northern  States, 
who  propose  to  inaugurate  a  chief  magistrate  not  to  preside 
over  the  common  interests  or  destinies  of  all  the  States  alike, 
but  upon  issues  of  malignant  hostility  and  uncompromising 
war  to  be  waged  upon  the  rights,  the  interests,  and  the  peace 
of  half  of  the  States  of  this  Union.'  The  Convention  met  on 
the  17th  of  December,  and  adjourned  the  next  day  to  Charles 
ton,  on  account  of  the  prevalence  of  small  pox  at  Columbia. 
On  the  20th  an  ordinance  was  passed  unanimously  repealing 
the  ordinance  adopted  May  23,  1788,  whereby  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  was  ratified,  and  'dissolving  the 
union  now  subsisting  between  South  Carolina  and  other  States 
under  the  name  of  the  United  States  of  America ;'  and  on  the 


182  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

24th  the  Governor  issued  his  proclamation,  declaring  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  to  be  a  'separate,  sovereign,  free, 
and  independent  State.* 

"This  was  the  first  act  of  secession  passed  by  any  State. 
The  debates  in  the  State  Convention  show  clearly  enough 
that  it  was  not  taken  under  the  impulse  of  resentment  for  any 
sharp  and  remediless  wrong,  nor  in  apprehension  that  any  such 
wrong  would  be  inflicted ;  but  in  pursuance  of  a  settled  and 
long-cherished  purpose.  In  that  debate  Mr.  Parker  said  that 
the  movement  was  'no  spasmodic  effort — it  had  been  grad 
ually  culminating  for  a  long  series  of  years.'  Mr.  Englis  en 
dorsed  this  remark,  and  added,  'Most  of  us  have  had  this 
matter  under  consideration  for  the  last  twenty  years.'  Mr. 
L.  M.  Keitt  said,  '  I  have  been  engaged  in  this  movement  ever 
since  I  entered  political  life.'  And  Mr.  Ehett,  who  had  been 
for  many  years  in  the  public  service,  declared  that  the  '  seces 
sion  of  South  Carolina  was  not  the  event  of  a  day.  It  is 
not,'  said  he,  '  any  thing  produced  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  or 
by  the  non-execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  It  is  a 
matter  which  has  been  gathering  head  for  thirty  years.  The 
election  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin  was  the  last  straw  on  the  back 
of  the  camel.  But  it  was  not  the  only  one.  The  back  was 
nearly  broken  before.'  So  far  as  South  Carolina  was  concerned 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  her  actions  was  decided  by  men 
who  had  been  plotting  disunion  for  thirty  years,  not  on  ac 
count  of  any  wrongs  her  people  had  sustained  at  the  hands  of 
the  Federal  Government,  but  from  motives  of  personal  andf 
sectional  ambition,  and  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  gov 
ernment  which  should  be  permanently  and  completely  in  the 
interest  of  slavery. 

"But  the  disclosures  which  have  since  been  made,  imperfect 
comparatively  as  they  are,  prove  clearly  that  the  whole  seces 
sion  movement  was  in  the  hands  of  a  few  conspirators,  who 
had  their  headquarters  at  the  national  Capital,  and  were  them 
selves  closely  connected  with  the  Government  of  the  United 


THE   GATHERING    STORM.  183 

States.  A  secret  meeting  of  these  men  was  held  at  Washing 
ton  on  the  night  of  the  5th  of  January,  1861,  at  which  the 
Senators  from  Georgia,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Texas, 
Mississippi,  and  Florida  were  present.  They  decided,  by 
resolutions,  that  each  of  the  southern  States  should  secede 
from  the  Union  as  soon  as  possible ;  that  a  Convention  of 
seceding  States  should  be  held  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  not 
later  than  the  15th  of  February ;  and  that  the  Senators  and 
members  of  Congress  from  the  southern  States  ought  to 
remain  in  their  seats  as  long  as  possible,  in  order  to  defeat 
measures  that  might  be  proposed  at  "Washington  hostile  to 
the  secession  movement.  Davis  of  Mississippi,  Slidell  of 
Louisiana,  and  Mallory  of  Florida,  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  carry  these  decisions  into  effect ;  and,  in  pursuance  of  them; 
Mississippi  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession  January  9th; 
Alabama  and  Florida,  January  llth  ;  Louisiana,  January  26th, 
and  Texas,  February  5th.  Ali  these  acts,  as  well  as  all  which 
followed,  were  simply  the  execution  of  the  behests  of  this 
secret  conclave  of  conspirators  who  had  resolved  upon  seces 
sion.  In  all  the  Conventions  of  the  seceding  States,  delegates 
were  appointed  to  meet  at  Montgomery.  In  not  one  of  them 
was  the  question  of  secession  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people ; 
although  in  some  of  them  the  Legislatures  had  expressly  for 
bidden  them  to  pass  any  ordinance  of  secession  without  making 
its  validity  depend  on  its  ratification  by  the  popular  vote. 
The  Convention  met  at  Montgomery  on  the  4th  of  February, 
and  adopted  a  provisional  constitution,  to  continue  in  opera- 
ration  for  one  year.  Under  this  constitution  Jefferson  Davis 
was  elected  President  of  the  new  Confederacy,  and  Alex.  H. 
Stephens,  of  Georgia,  Vice-President.  Both  were  inaugurated 
on  the  18th.  In  an  address  delivered  on  his  arrival  at  Mont 
gomery,  Mr.  Davis  declared  that  'the  time  for  compromise  has 
now  passed,  and  the  South  is  determined  to  maintain  her  posi 
tion,  and  make  all  who  oppose  her  smell  southern  powder  and 
feel  southern  steel,  if  coercion  is  persisted  in.'  He  felt  sure  of 


184  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  result ;  it  might  be  they  would  '  have  to  encounter  inconve 
niences  at  the  beginning/  but  he  had  no  doubts  of  the  final 
issue.  The  lirst  part  of  his  anticipation  has  been  fully 
realized ;  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  end  will  be  as 
peaceful  and  satisfactory  as  he  predicted. 

"The  policy  of  the  new  Confederacy  towards  the  United 
States  was  soon  officially  made  known.  The  government  de 
cided  to  maintain  the  status  quo  until  the  expiration  of  Mr. 
Buchanan's  term,  feeling  assured  that  with  his  declared  be 
lief  that  it  would  be  unconstitutional  to  coerce  a  State,  they 
need  apprehend  from  his  administration  no  active  hostility  to 
their  designs.  They  had  some  hope  that,  by  the  4th  of  March, 
their  new  Confederacy  would  be  so  far  advanced  that  the  new 
Administration  might  waive  its  purpose  of  coercion;  and  they 
deemed  it  wise  not  to  do  any  thing  which  should  rashly  forfeit 
the  favor  and  support  of  '  that  very  large  portion  of  the  North 
whose  moral  sense  was  on  their  side.'  Nevertheless,  they 
entered  upon  prompt  and  active  preparations  for  war.  Con 
tracts  were  made  in  various  parts  of  the  south  for  the  manu 
facture  of  powder,  shell,  cannon  balls,  and  other  munitions 
of  war.  Eecruiting  was  set  on  foot  in  several  of  the  States. 
A  plan  was  adopted  for  the  organization  of  a  regular  army 
of  the  Confederacy,  and  on  the  6th  of  March,  Congress  passed 
an  act  authorizing  a  military  force  of  one  hundred  thousand 
men." 

Thus  was  opened  a  new  chapter  in  the  history  of 
America,  and  thus  were  taken  the  first  steps  towards 
overthrowing  the  Government  and  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  establishing  a  new  nation,  with  a 
new  Constitution,  resting  upon  new  principles,  and  aim 
ing  at  new  results. 

After  the  new  Confederacy  had  been  organized,  Mr. 
A.  H.  Stephens,  its  Vice  President,  made  an  elaborate 
speech  to  the  citizens  of  Savannah,  which  is  the  most 


THE   GATHERING   STORM.  185 

authoritative  and  explicit  statement  of  the  character  and 
objects  of  the  new  government  which  was  ever  made. 
Mr.  Stephens  said : 

"  The  new  constitution  has  put  at  rest  forever  all  agitating 
questions  relating  to  our  peculiar  institutions — African  slavery 
as  it  exists  among  us — the  proper  status  of  the  negro  in  our 
form  of  civilization.  This  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  late 
rupture  and  present  revolution.  Jefferson,  in  his  forecast,  had 
anticipated  this,  as  the  '  rock  upon  which  the  old  Union  would 
split.'  He  was  right.  What  was  conjecture  with  him  is  now 
a  realized  fact.  But  whether  he  fully  comprehended  the  great 
truth  upon  which  that  rock  stood  and  stands,  may  be  doubted. 
The  prevailing  ideas  entertained  by  him  and  most  of  the  leading 
statesmen  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  old  Constitution 
were,  that  the  enslavement  of  the  African  was  in  violation  of 
laws  of  nature ;  that  it  was  wrong  in  principle,  socially,  morally, 
and  politically.  It  was  an  evil  they  knew  not  well  how  to  deal 
with ;  but  the  general  opinion  of  the  men  of  that  day  was,  that, 
somehow  or  other,  in  the  order  of  Providence,  the  institution 
would  be  evanescent  and  pass  away.  This  idea,  though  not 
incorporated  in  the  Constitution,  was  the  prevailing  idea  at  the 
time.  The  Constitution,  it  is  true,  secured  every  essential 
guarantee  to  the  institution  while  it  should  last,  and  hence  no 
argument  can  be  justly  used  against  the  constitutional  guaran 
tees  thus  secured,  because  of  the  common  sentiment  of  the  day. 
Those  ideas,  however,  were  fundamentally  wrong.  They  rested 
upon  the  assumption  of  the  equality  of  races.  This  was  an 
error.  It  was  a  sandy  foundation,  and  the  idea  of  a  govern 
ment  built  upon  it  was  wrong — when  the  storm  came  and  the 
wind  blew,  it  fell. 

"Our  new  Government  is  founded  upon  exactly  the  opposite 
ideas  ;  its  foundations  are  laid,  its  corner-stone  rests  upon  the  great 
truth  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to  the  white  man;  that  slavery, 
subordination  to  the  superior  race,  is  his  natural  and  moral  condi- 


186  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tion.  This,  our  new  Government,  is  the  first  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  based  upon  this  great  physical,  philosophical,  and  moral  truth. 
This  truth  has  been  slow  in  the  process  of  its  development, 
like  all  other  truths  in  the  various  departments  of  science.  It 
is  even  so  amongst  us.  Many  who  hear  me,  perhaps,  can 
recollect  well  that  this  truth  was  not  generally  admitted  even 
within  their  day.  The  errors  of  the  past  generation  still  clung 
to  many  as  late  as  twenty  years  ago.  Those  at  the  North  who 
still  cling  to  these  errors  with  a  zeal  above  knowledge,  we 
justly  denominate  fanatics." 

Such  was  the  course  of  events  in  the  southern  States 
during  the  three  months  succeeding  the  election  of 
President  Lincoln. 

Let  us  now  see  what  occurred  at  Washington,  and  in 
the  loyal  States  of  the  North,  during  the  same  period 
Congress  met  on  the  3d  of  December,  and  received  a 
message  from  President  Buchanan,  in  which  the  discon 
tent  of  the  southern  States  was  ascribed  to  the  violent 
agitation  in  the  North  against  slavery,  which  had  created 
dissatisfaction  among  the  slaves,  and  created  apprehen 
sions  of  servile  insurrection. 

Commencing  with  this  absurd  proposition,  Buchanan 
vindicated  the  hostile  action  of  the  South,  assuming 
that  it  was  prompted  by  these  apprehensions ;  but  went 
on  to  show  that  there  was  no  right  on  the  part  of  any 
State  to  secede  from  the  Union,  while  at  the  same  time 
he  contended  that  the  general  Government  had  no 
right  to  make  war  on  any  State  for  the  purpose  of  pre 
venting  it  from  seceding,  and  closed  this  portion  of  his 
message  by  recommending  an  amendment  of  the  Consti 
tution  which  should  explicitly  recognize  the  right  of 
property  in  slaves,  and  provide  for  the  protection  of  that 


THE   GATHERING   STORM.  187 

right  in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States.  The 
belief  that  the  people  of  South  Carolina  would  make  an 
attempt  to  seize  one  or  more  of  the  forts  in  the  harbor 
of  Charleston,  created  considerable  uneasiness  at  Wash 
ington  ;  and  on  the  9th  of  December  the  Kepresentatives 
from  that  State  wrote  to  the  President  expressing  their 
"strong  convictions"  that  no  such  attempt  would  be 
made  previous  to  the  action  of  that  State  Convention, 
"provided  that  no  reinforcements  should  be  sent  into 
those  forts,  and  their  relative  military  status  shall 
remain  as  at  present."  On  the  10th  of  December, 
Howell  Cobb  resigned  his  office  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  on  the  14th  General  Cass  resigned  his 
office  as  Secretary  of  State.  The  latter  resigned  because 
the  President  refused  to  reinforce  the  forts  in  the  harbor 
of  Charleston.  On  the  20th,  the  State  of  South  Caro 
lina  passed  the  ordinance  of  secession,  and  on  the  26th 
Major  Anderson  transferred  his  garrison  from  Fort 
Moultrie  to  Fort  Sumter.  On  the  29th,  John  B.  Floyd 
resigned  his  office  as  Secretary  of  War,  alleging  that  the 
action  of  Major  Anderson  was  in  violation  of -pledges 
given  by  the  Government  that  the  military  status  of  the 
forts  at  Charleston  should  remain  unchanged,  and  that 
the  President  had  declined  to  allow  him  to  issue  an 
order,  for  which  he  had  applied  on  the  27th,  to  with 
draw  the  garrison  from  the  harbor  of  Charleston.  On 
the  2 9th  of  December,  Messrs.  Barnwell,  Adams,  and  Orr 
arrived  at  Washington,  as  Commissioners  from  the  State 
of  South  Carolina,  and  at  once  opened  a  correspondence 
with  President  Buchanan,  asking  for  the  delivery  of  the 
*forts  and  other  government  property  at  Charleston  to 
the  authorities  of  South  Carolina.  The  President  re- 


188  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

plied  on  the  20th,  reviewing  the  whole  question — 
stating  that  in  removing  from  Fort  Moultrie  Major 
Anderson  acted  solely  on  his  own  responsibility,  and 
that  his  first  impulse  on  hearing  of  it  was  to  order  him 
to  return,  but  that  the  occupation  of  the  fort  by  South 
Carolina  and  the  seizure  of  the  arsenal  at  Charleston 
had  rendered  this  impossible.  The  Commissioners  re 
plied  on  the  1st  of  January,  1861,  insisting  that  the 
President  had  pledged  himself  to  maintain  the  status 
of  affairs  in  Charleston  harbor  previous  to  the  removal 
of  Major  Anderson  from  Fort  Moultrie,  and  calling  on 
him  to  redeem  this  pledge.  This  communication  the 
President  returned. 

On  the  8th  of  January  the  President  sent  a  message 
to  Congress,  calling  their  attention  to  the  condition  of 
public  affairs,  declaring  that  while  he  had  no  right  to 
make  aggressive  war  upon  any  State,  it  was  his  right 
and  his  duty  to  "  use  military  force  defensively  against 
those  who  resist  the  federal  officers  in  the  execution  of 
their  legal  functions,  and  against  those  who  assail  the 
property  of  the  Federal  Government;" — but  throwing 
the  whole  responsibility  of  meeting  the  extraordinary 
emergencies  of  the  occasion  upon  Congress.  On  the 
same  day  Jacob  Thompson,  of  Mississippi,  resigned  his 
office  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  because  the  Star  of 
the  West  had  been  sent  on  the  5th,  by  order  of  the 
Government,  with  supplies  for  Fort  Sumter,  in  violation, 
as  he  alleged,  of  the  decision  of  the  Cabinet.  On  the 
10th,  P.  F.  Thomas,  of  Maryland,  who  had  replaced 
Howell  Cobb  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  resigned, 
and  was  succeeded  by  General  John  A.  Dix,  of  New 
York. 


THE   GATHERING   STORM.  189 

The  debates  and  the  action  of  Congress  throughout 
the  session  related  mainly  to  the  questions  at  issue 
between  the  two  sections.  The  discussion  opened  on 
the  3d  of  December  as  soon  as  the  President's  Message 
had  been  read.  The  southern  Senators  generally  treated 
the  election  of  the  previous  November  as  having  been  a 
virtual  decision  against  the  equality  and  rights  of  the 
slaveholding  States.  The  Eepublican  members  dis 
avowed  this  construction,  and  proclaimed  their  willing 
ness  to  adopt  any  just  and  proper  measures  which  would 
quiet  the  apprehensions  of  the  South,  while  they  in 
sisted  that  the  authority  of  the  Constitution  should  be 
maintained,  and  the  constitutional  election  of  a  President 
should  be  respected.  At  the  opening  of  the  session,  Mr. 
Powell,  of  Kentucky,  in  the  Senate,  moved  the  reference 
of  that  portion  of  the  President's  Message  which  related 
to  the  sectional  difficulties  of  the  country,  to  a  select 
committee  of  thirteen.  This  resolution  being  adopted, 
Mr.  Orittenden  introduced  a  series  of  joint  resolutions, 
afterwards  known  as  the  Crittenden  Compromise — pro 
posing  to  submit  to  the  action  of  the  people  of  the 
several  States  the  following  amendment  to  the  Consti 
tution  : 

"  1.  Prohibiting  slavery  in  all  t'he  territory  of  the  United 
States  north  of  36°  30',  and  protecting  it  as  property  in  all 
territory  south  of  that  line ;  and  admitting  into  the  Union,  with 
or  without  slavery,  as  its  Constitution  might  provide,  any  State 
that  might  be  formed  out  of  such  territory,  whenever  its  popu 
lation  should  be  sufficient  to  entitle  it  to  a  member  of  Con 
gress. 

"  2.  Prohibiting  Congress  from  abolishing  slavery  in  places 
under  its  exclusive  jurisdiction  within  slave  States. 


190  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"  3.  Prohibiting  Congress  from  abolishing  slavery  within  the 
District  of  Columbia,  so  long  as  slavery  should  exist  in  Vir 
ginia  or  Maryland ;  or  without  the  consent  of  the  inhabitants 
or  without  just  compensation  to  the  owners. 

"  4.  Prohibiting  Congress  from  hindering  the  transportation 
of  slaves  from  one  State  to  another,  or  to  a  Territory  in  which 
slavery  is  allowed. 

"  5.  Providing  that  where  a  fugitive  slave  is  lost  to  his  owner 
by  violent  resistance  to  the  execution  of  the  process  of  the  law 
for  his  recovery,  the  United  States  shall  pay  to  said  owner  his 
full  value,  and  may  recover  the  same  from  the  county  in  which 
such  rescue  occurred. 

"  6.  These  provisions  were  declared  to  be  unchangeable  by 
any  future  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  as  were  also  the 
existing  existing  articles  relating  to  the  representation  of  slaves 
and  the  surrender  of  fugitives  " 


Mr.  Crittenden's  resolutions  also  embodied  certain 
declarations  in  affirmance  of  the  constitutionality  and 
binding  force  of  the  fugitive  slave  law — recommending 
the  repeal  by  the  States  of  all  bills  the  effect  of  which 
was  to  hinder  the  execution  of  that  law — proposing  to 
amend  it  by  equalizing  its  fees,  and  urging  the  effectual 
execution  of  the  law  for  the  suppression  of  the  African 
slave  trade. 

These  resolutions  were  referred  to  a  committee  of 
thirteen,  which,  on  the  thirty-first  of  December,  re 
ported  that  they  "  had  not  been  able  to  agree  upon  any 
general  plan  of  adjustment."  The  whole  subject  was 
discussed  over  and  over  again  during  the  residue  of  the 
session  ;  no  final  action  being  taken  until  the  very  day 
of  its  close.  Between  the  twenty-first  of  January  and 
the  fourth  of  February,  the  representatives  of  Florida, 


THE   GATHERING    STORM.  191 

Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  vacated 
their  seats  in  the  Senate. 

In  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  the  debates  took  the 
same  general  direction  as  in  the  Senate,  and  on  the  first 
day  of  the  session,  a  resolution  was  adopted,  by  a  vote 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-five  to  thirty-eight,  to  refer  so 
much  of  the  President's  message  as  related  to  the  peril 
ous  condition  of  the  country  to  a  committee  of  one  from 
each  State.  In  a  few  days  the  committee  reported  the 
following  series  of  resolutions,  and  recommended  their 
adoption : 

Resolved  ly  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  all  attempts 
on  the  parts  of  the  Legislatures  of  any  of  the  States  to  obstruct 
or  hinder  the  recovery  and  surrender  of  fugitives  from  service 
or  labor,  are  in  derogation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  inconsistent  with  the  comity  and  good  neighborhood 
that  should  prevail  among  the  several  States  and  dangerous  to 
the  peace  of  the  Union. 

Resolved,  That  the  several  States  be  respectfully  requested  to 
cause  their  statutes  to  be  revised,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  if 
any  of  them  are  in  conflict  with  or  tend  to  embarrass  or  hinder 
the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  made  in  pur 
suance  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  for  the  delivering  up  of  persons 
held  to  labor,  by  the  laws  of  any  State,  and  escaping  therefrom ; 
and  the  Senate  and  House  of  Kepresentatives  earnestly  request 
that  all  enactments  having  such  tendency  be  forthwith  repealed, 
as  required  by  a  just  sense  of  constitutional  obligations,  and 
by  a  due  regard  for  the  peace  of  the  Republic  ;  and  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  is  requested  to  communicate  these 
resolutions  to  the  Governors  of  the  several  States,  with  a  re 
quest  that  they  will  lay  the  same  before  the  Legislatures  thereof 
respectively. 


192  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  slavery  as  now  existing  in  fifteen 
of  the  United  States,  by  the  usages  and  laws  of  those  States ; 
and  we  recognize  no  authority,  legally  or  otherwise,  outside  of 
a  State  where  it  so  exists,  to  interfere  with  slaves  or  slavery  in 
such  States,  in  disregard  of  the  rights  of  their  owners  or  the 
peace  of  society. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  the  justice  and  propriety  of  a 
faithful  execution  of  the  Constitution,  and  laws  made  in  pur 
suance  thereof,  on  the  subject  of  fugitive  slaves,  or  fugitives 
from  service  or  labor,  and  discountenance  all  mobs  or  hin 
drances  to  the  execution  of  such  laws,  and  that  citizens  of 
each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities 
of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  no  such  conflicting  elements  in 
its  composition,  or  sufficient  cause  from  any  source,  for  a  'disso 
lution  of  this  government ;  that  we  were  not  sent  here  to 
destroy,  but  to  sustain  and  harmonize  the  institutions  of  the 
country,  and  to  see  that  equal  justice  is  done  to  all  parts  of 
the  same ;  and  finally,  to  perpetuate  its  existence,  on  terms  of 
equality  and  justice  to  all  the  States. 

Resolved,  That  a  faithful  observance,  on  the  part  of  all  the 
States,  of  all  their  constitutional  obligations  to  each  other  and 
to  the  Federal  Government,  is  essential  to  the  peace  of  the 
country. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Government  te 
enforce  the  federal  laws,  protect  the  federal  property,  and  pre 
serve  the  Union  of  these  States. 

Resolved,  That  each  State  be  requested  to  revise  its  statutes, 
and,  if  necessary,  so  to  amend  the  same  as  to  secure,  without 
legislation  by  Congress,  to  citizens  of  other  States  travelling 
therein,  the  same  protection  as  citizens  of  such  State  enjoy ; 
and  also  to  protect  the  citizens  of  other  States  travelling  or 
sojourning  therein,  against  popular  violence  or  illegal  summary 
punishment,  without  trial  in  due  form  of  law  for  imputed 
crimes. 


THE   GATHERING   STORM.  193 

Resolved,  That  each.  State  be  also  respectfully  requested  to 
enact  such  laws  as  will  prevent  and  punish  any  attempt  what 
ever  in  such  State  to  recognize  or  set  on  foot  the  lawless  inva 
sion  of  any  other  State  or  Territory. 

Resolved,  That  the  President  be  requested  to  transmit  copies 
of  the  foregoing  resolutions  to  the  Governors  of  the  several 
States,  with  a  request  that  they  be  communicated  to  their  re 
spective  Legislatures. 

These  resolutions  were  intended,  and  admirably  cal 
culated  to  calm  the  apprehensions  of  the  people  of  the 
slaveholding  States  as  to  any  disposition  on  the  part  of 
the  Federal  Government  to  interfere  with  slavery,  or 
withhold  from  them  any  of  their  constitutional  rights; 
and,  in  a  House  controlled  by  a  large  Republican  ma 
jority,  they  were  adopted  by  a  vote  of  ayes  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six,  noes  fifty-three.  Not  content  with  this 
effort  to  satisfy  all  just  complaints  on  the  part  of  the 
southern  States,  the  same  committee  reported  the  fol 
lowing  resolution,  recommending  that 

"  No  amendment  shall  be  made  to  the  Constitution  which 
will  authorize  or  give  to  Congress  the  power  to  abolish  or  in 
terfere,  within  any  State,  with  the  domestic  institutions  thereof, 
including  that  of  persons  held  to  labor  or  service  by  the  laws 
of  said  State." 

This  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three  to  sixty-five — more  than  two-thirds  in 
its  favor.  This  closed  the  action  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  at  this  session,  on  this  important  subject, 
though  it  had  previously  adopted,  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
the  following  declaratory  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  neither  the  Federal  Government  nor  the  peo- 
13 


194  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

pie,  or  the  governments  of  the  non-slaveholding  States,  have 
the  right  to  legislate  upon  or  interfere  with  slavery  in  any  of 
the  slaveholding  States  in  the  Union. 

The  action  of  the  Senate  was  somewhat  modified  by 
the  intervening  action  of  a  Peace  Conference,  which 
assembled  at  Washington  on  the  4th  of  February,  in 
pursuance  of  a  recommendation  of  the  State  of  Virginia, 
embodied  in  resolutions  adopted  by  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  that  State  on  the  19th  of  January.  It  consisted 
of  delegates,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  in  number, 
from  twenty-one  States — none  of  those  which  had  sece 
ded  being  represented.  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia,  was 
appointed  president,  and  a  committee,  consisting  of  one 
from  each  State,  was  appointed,  with  authority  to 
"  report  what  they  may  deem  right,  necessary,  and 
proper  to  restore  harmony  and  preserve  the  Union." 
On  the  15th  of  February  the  committee  reported  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions  : 

To  the  Congress  of  the  United  States : 

The  Convention  assembled  upon  the  invitation  of  the  State 
of  Virginia  to  adjust  the  unhappy  differences  which  now  dis 
turb  the  peace  of  the  Union  and  threaten  its  continuance,  make 
known  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  that  their  body 
convened  in  the  city  of  Washington  on  the  4th  instant,  and 
continued  in  session  until  the  27th. 

There  were  in  the  body,  when  action  was  taken  upon  that 
which  is  here  submitted,  one  hundred  and  thirty -three  com 
missioners,  representing  the  following  States:  Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Khode  Island,  Connecti 
cut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Mary 
land,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Missouri, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Kansas. 


THE   GATHERING   STORM.  195 

They  "have  approved  what  is  herewith  submitted,  and  re 
spectfully  request  that  your  honorable  body  will  submit  it  to 
conventions  in  the  States  as  an  article  of  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

SECTION  1.  In  all  the  present  territory  of  the  United  States, 
north  of  the  parallel  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes 
of  north  latitude,  involuntary  servitude,  except  in  punishment 
of  crime,  is  prohibited.  In  all  the  present  territory  south  of 
that  line,  the  status  of  persons  held  to  involuntary  service  or 
labor,  as  it  now  exists,  shall  not  be  changed ;  nor  shall  any  law 
be  passed  by  Congress  or  the  Territorial  Legislature  to  hinder 
or  prevent  the  taking  of  such  persons  from  any  of  the  States 
of  this  Union  to  said  Territory,  nor  to  impair  the  rights 
arising  from  said  relation ;  but  the  same  shall  be  subject  to 
judicial  cognizance  in  the  Federal  Courts,  according  to  the 
course  of  the  common  law.  When  any  Territory  north  or 
south  of  said  line,  within  such  boundary  as  Congress  may  pre 
scribe,  shall  contain  a  population  equal  to  that  required  for  a 
member  of  Congress,  it  shall,  if  its  form  of  government  be  re 
publican,  be  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  original  States,  with  or  without  involuntary  servitude  as 
the  constitution  of  such  State  may  provide. 

SECTION  2.  ISTo  territory  shall  be  acquired  by  the  United 
States,  except  by  discovery,  and  for  naval  and  commercial 
stations,  depots,  and  transit  routes,  without  the  concurrence  of 
a  majority  of  all  the  Senators  from  States  which  allow  involun 
tary  servitude,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  Senators  from  States 
which  prohibit  that  relation  ;  nor  shall  territory  be  acquired  by 
treaty,  unless  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  Senators  from  each 
class  of  States  hereinbefore  mentioned  be  cast  as  a  part  of  the 
two-thirds  necessary  to  the  ratification  of  such  treaty. 

SECTION  3.  Neither  the  Constitution  nor  any  amendment 
thereof  shall  be  construed  to  give  Congress  power  to  regulate, 
abolish,  or  control,  within  any  State,  the  relation  established  or 
recognized  by  the  laws  thereof,  touching  persons  held  to  labor 


196  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

or  involuntary  service  therein,  nor  to  interfere  with  or  abolish 
involuntary  service  in  the  District  of  Columbia  without  the 
consent  of  Maryland  and  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  or 
making  the  owners  who  do  not  consent  just  compensation;  nor 
the  power  to  interfere  with  or  prohibit  Eepresentatives  and 
others  from  bringing  with  them  to  the  District  of  Columbia, 
retaining  and  taking  away,  persons  so  held  to  labor  or  service ; 
nor  the  power  to  interfere  with  or  abolish  involuntary  service 
in  places  under  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
within  those  States  and  Territories  where  the  same  is  estab 
lished  or  recognized ;  nor  the  power  to  prohibit  the  removal  or 
transportation  of  persons  held  to  labor  or  involuntary  service 
in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States  to  any  other 
State  or  Territory  thereof  where  it  is  established  or  recognized 
by  law  or  usage,  and  the  right  during  transportation,  by  sea  or 
river,  of  touching  at  ports,  shores,  and  of  landing  in  case  of 
distress,  shall  exist ;  but  not  the  right  of  transit  in  or  through 
any  State  or  Territory,  or  of  sale  or  traffic,  against  the  law 
thereof.  Nor  shall  Congress  have  power  to  authorize  any 
higher  rate  of  taxation  on  persons  held  to  labor  or  service 
than  on  land. 

SECTION  4.  The  third  paragraph  of  the  second  section  of  the 
fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  shall  not  be  construed  to  pre 
vent  any  of  the  States,  by  appropriate  legislation,  and  through 
the  action  of  their  judicial  and  ministerial  officers,  from  en 
forcing  the  delivery  of  fugitives  from  labor  to  the  person  to 
whom  such  service  or  labor  is  due. 

SECTION  5.  The  foreign  slave  trade  is  hereby  forever  pro 
hibited,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  Congress  to  pass  laws  to 
prevent  the  importation  of  slaves,  coolies,  or  persons  held  to 
service  or  labor,  into  the  United  States  and  the  Territories, 
from  places  beyond  the  limits  thereof. 

SECTION  6.  The  first,  third,  and  fifth  sections,  together  with 
this  section  of  these  amendments,  and  the  third  paragraph  of 
the  second  section  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  third  paragraph 


THE   GATHERING   STORM.  197 

of  the  section  of  the  fourth  article  thereof,  shall  not  be  amended 
or  abolished  without  the  consent  of  all  the  States. 

SECTION  7.  Congress  shall  provide  by  law  that  the  United 
States  shall  pay  to  the  owner  the  full  value  of  his  fugitive  from 
labor,  in  all  cases  where  the  marshal  or  other  officer  whose  duty 
it  was  to  arrest  such  fugitive,  was  prevented  from  doing  so  by 
violence  or  intimidation,  from  mobs  or  other  riotous  assem 
blages  ;  or  when,  after  arrest,  such  fugitive  was  rescued  by  like 
violence  or  intimidation,  and  the  owner  thereby  deprived  of 
the  same ;  and  the  acceptance  of  such  payment  shall  preclude 
the  owner  from  further  claim  to  such  fugitive.  Congress  shall 
provide  by  law  for  securing  to  the  citizens  of  each  State  the 
privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 

The  following  resolution  was  also  moved  and  adopted : 

Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  Convention,  that  the  highest 
political  duty  of  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  is  his 
allegiance  to  the  Federal  Government  created  by  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  and  that  no  State  of  this  Union  has 
any  Constitutional  right  to  secede  therefrom,  or  to  absolve  the 
citizens  of  such  State  from  their  allegiance  to  the  government 
of  the  United  States. 

On  the  second  day  of  March  these  resolutions  were 
communicated  to  the  Senate,  and  referred  to  a  com 
mittee,  who,  the  next  day,  reported  them  back  for 
adoption — Messrs.  Seward  and  Trumbull  offering  a  mi 
nority  report,  proposing  the  adoption  of  a  resolution 
calling  on  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  to  express  their  • 
will  in  regard  to  calling  a  Convention  for  amending  the 
Constitution. 

Then  followed  a  series  of  amendments,  resolutions, 
and  counter-resolutions,  all  of  which  were  defeated,  and 
the  peace  resolutions  were  finally  lost,  in  consequence 


198  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  the  withdrawal  of  Senators  from  the  disaffected 
States.  The  question  being  then  taken  on  the  House 
resolution  to  amend  the  Constitution  so  as  to  prohibit 
forever  any  amendment  of  the  Constitution  interfering 
with  slavery  in  any  State,  the  resolution  was  adopted 
by  a  two-thirds  vote — ayes  twenty-four,  nays  twelve. 

This  closed  the  action  of  Congress  upon  this  impor 
tant  subject.  "  Strongly  Republican  in  both  branches, 
yet  it  had  done  every  thing  consistent  with  justice  and 
fidelity  to  the  Constitution  to  disarm  the  apprehensions 
of  the  southern  States,  and  to  remove  all  provocation 
for  their  resistance  to  the  incoming  administration.  It 
had  given  the  strongest  possible  pledge  that  it  had  no 
intention  of  interfering  with  slavery  in  any  State  by 
amending  the  Constitution,  so  as  to  make  such  interfer 
ence  forever  impossible.  It  had  created  governments 
for  three  new  Territories — Nevada,  Dakotah,  and  Colo 
rado — and  passed  no  law  excluding  slavery  from  any 
one  of  them.  It  had  severely  censured  the  legislation 
of  some  of  the  northern  States  intended  to  hinder  the 
recovery  of  fugitives  from  labor;  and  in  response  to  its 
expressed  wishes,  Rhode  Island  repealed  its  laws  of  that 
character — and  Vermont,  Maine,  Massachusetts  and 
Wisconsin,  had  the  subject  under  consideration,  and 
were  ready  to  take  similar  action.  Yet  all  this  had  no 
effect  whatever  in  changing  or  checking  the  secession 
•movement  in  the  southern  States." 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO  WASHINGTON.  199 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  INAUGURAL  TOUR  TO  WASHINGTON. 

His  farewell  at  Springfield,  111. — Addresses  at  Toledo,  Indianapolis,  Cin 
cinnati,  Steubenville,  Pittsburg,  Cleveland,  Syracuse,  Utica,  Albany, 
Poughkeepsie. — His  grand  reception  at  New  York  City. — Arrives  at 
Newark,  N.  J. — Trenton. — Is  received  at  Philadelphia. — Visits,  and 
helps  to  raise  a  Flag  on  "  Independence  Hall." — Stops  at  Harrisburg. — 
Makes  a  sudden  appearance  in  Washington. — Escapes  a  plot  for  his 
Assassination. — Is  welcomed  by  the  city  authorities  of  Washington,  and 
addresses  them. 

MR.  LINCOLN,  during  the  period  intervening  between 
his  election  and  his  assumption  of  office,  maintained  a 
wise  silence  on  the  national  affairs.  He  probably  felt 
that  it  was  neither  politic  to  commit  himself  by  any 
public  utterances,  or  becoming  to  take  any  step  which 
might  be  construed  as  interference  with  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  those  who  still  held  the  reins  of  gov 
ernment. 

He  could  not,  however,  conceal  from  himself  the  for 
midable  nature  of  the  task  before  him.  To  him,  the 
Presidential  office  presented  no  daily  round  of  quiet 
routine ;  for  in  a  few  days  the  southern  States,  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  recent  election,  would  have  chosen 
another  President,  whose  authority  they  were  prepared 
to  maintain  by  force  of  arms,  against  the  authority 
which  had  been  vested  in  himself  as  the  legitimate 
head  of  the  people. 


*200  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

But  the  time  soon  drew  near  when  he  was  to  enter 
upon  the  high  office  to  which  he  had  been  called  by  the 
voice  of  the  people.  Accordingly,  on  the  llth  of  Feb 
ruary,  1861,  he  left  his  home  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  ac 
companied  to  the  railroad  depot  by  a  large  concourse  of 
his  friends  and  neighbors,  to  whom  he  bade  farewell  in 
the  following  touching  words,  which,  read  at  the 
present  time,  have  a  mournful  interest : 

"  MY  FRIENDS  :  No  one  not  in  my  position  can  appreciate 
the  sadness  I  feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all 
that  I  am.  Here  I  have  lived  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
Here  my  children  were  born,  and  here  one  of  them  lies  buried. 
I  know  not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you  again.  A  duty  devolves 
upon  me  which  is  perhaps  greater  than  that  which  has  de 
volved  upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Washington. 
He  never  would  have  succeeded  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine 
Providence,  upon  which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  I 
cannot  succeed  without  the  same  Divine  aid  which  sustained 
him,  and  in  the  same  Almighty  Being  I  place  my  reliance  for 
support ;  and  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  all  pray  that  I  may 
receive  that  Divine  assistance,  without  which  I  cannot  succeed, 
but  with  which  success  is  certain.  Again,  I  bid  you  all  an 
affectionate  farewell." 

At  Toledo,  he  appeared  upon  the  platform  of  the 
cars,  and  in  response  to  the  applause  which  hailed  his 
appearance,  said : 

"  I  am  leaving  you  on  an  errand  of  national  importance,  at 
tended,  as  you  are  aware,  with  considerable  difficulties.  Let 
us  believe,  as  some  poet  has  expressed  it,  '  Behind  the  cloud 
the  sun  is  still  shining.'  I  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell." 

At   Indianapolis   he  was  welcomed   by  a   salute  of 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO  WASHINGTON.  201 

thirty-four  guns,  was  received  by  the  Governor  of  the 
State,  and  escorted  by  a  procession  of  the  members 
of  both  Houses  of  the  Legislature,  the  municipal  author 
ities,  the  military  and  firemen.  On  arriving  at  the 
hotel,  he  responded  to  the  hearty  applause  of  the  large 
crowd  assembled  in  the  street,  in  a  brief  speech,  in  the 

course  of  which  he  uttered  these  sentiments  : 

• 

"  To  the  salvation  of  the  Union  there  needs  but  one  single 
thing,  the  hearts  of  a  people  like  yours.  [Applause.]  Of  the 
people,  when  they  rise  in  mass  in  behalf  of  the  Union  and  the 
liberties  of  their  country,  truly  may  it  be  said,  '  The  gates  of 
hell  cannot  prevail  against  them.'  [Renewed  applause.]  In 
all  trying  positions  in  which  I  shall  be  placed,  and,  doubtless, 
I  shall  be  placed  in  many  such,  my  reliance  will  be  placed 
upon  you  and  the  people  of  the  United  States ;  and  I  wish  you 
to  remember,  now  and  forever,  that  it  is  your  business,  and  not 
mine ;  that  if  the  Union  of  these  States,  and  the  liberties  of  this 
people  shall  be  lost,  it  is  but  little  to  any  one  man  of  fifty-two 
years  of  age,  but  a  great  deal  to  the  thirty  millions  of  people 
who  inhabit  these  United  States,  and  to  their  posterity  in  all 
coming  time.  It  is  your  business  to  rise  up  and  preserve  the 
Union  and  liberty  for  yourselves,  and  not  for  me." 

In  the  evening  the  members  of  the  Legislature  waited 
upon  him  in  a  body  at  his  hotel,  where  one  of  their 
number,  in  presence  of  a  very  large  assemblage  of  the 
citizens  of  the  place,  made  a  brief  address  of  welcome 
and  congratulation,  which  Mr.  Lincoln  acknowledged  in 
the  following  fitting  terms  : 

"FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  STATE  OF!NDIAXA:  I  am  here 
to  thank  you  much  for  this  magnificent  welcome,  and  still 
more  for  the  generous  support  given  by  your  State  to  that 


202  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

political  cause  which  I  think  is  the  true  and  just  cause  of  the 
whole  country  and  the  whole  world. 

"Solomon  says  there  is  'a  time  to  keep  silence.'  and  when 
men  wrangle  by  the  mouth  with  no  certainty  that  they  mean 
the  same  thing,  while  using  the  same  word,  it  perhaps  were  as 
well  if  they  would  keep  silence. 

"The  words  'coercion'  and  '  invasion'  are  much  used  in  these 
days,  and  often  with  some  temper  and  hot  blood.  Let  us  make 
sure,  if  we  can,  that  we  do  not  misunderstand  the  meaning  of 
those  who  use  them.  Let  us  get  the  exact  definitions  of  these 
words,  not  from  dictionaries,  but  from  the  men  themselves,  who 
certainly  deprecate  the  things  they  would  represent  by  the  use 
of  the  word.  What,  then,  is  'coercion?'  What  is  'invasion?' 
Would  the  marching  of  an  army  into  South  Carolina,  without 
the  consent  of  her  people,  and  with  hostile  intent  towards 
them,  be  invasion  ?  I  certainly  think  it  would,  and  it  would 
be  'coercion'  also  if  the  South  Carolinaians  were  forced  to  sub 
mit.  But  if  the  United  States  should  merely  hold  and  retake 
its  own  forts  and  other  property,  and  collect  the  duties  on  foreign 
importations,  or  even  withhold  the  mails  from  places  where 
they  were  habitually  violated,  would  any  or  all  these  things  be 
' invasion'  or  'coercion?'  Do  our  professed  lovers  of  the 
Union,  but  who  spitefully  resolve  that  they  will  resist  coercion 
and  invasion,  understand  that  such  things  as  these  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States,  would  be  coercion  or  invasion  of  a  State  ? 
If  so,  their  idea  of  means  to  preserve  the  object  of  their  affec 
tion  would  seem  exceedingly  thin  and  airy.  If  sick,  the  little 
pills  of  the  homoeopathists  would  be  much  too  large  for  it  to 
swallow.  In  their  view,  the  Union,  as  a  family  relation,  would 
seem  to  be  no  regular  marriage,  but  a  sort  of  'free  love'  ar 
rangement,  to  be  maintained  only  on  '  passional  attraction.' 

"By  the  way,  in  what  consists  the  special  sacredness  of  a 
State  ?  I  speak  not  of  the  position  assigned  to  a  State  in  the 
Union  by  the  Constitution  ;  for  that,  by  the  bond,  we  all  recog 
nize.  That  position,  however,  a  State  cannot  carry  out  of  the 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  203 

Union  with  it.  I  speak  of  that  assumed  primary  right  of  a 
State  to  rule  all  which  is  less  than  itself,  and  ruin  all  which  is 
larger  than  itself.  If  a  State  and  a  county,  in  a  given  case, 
should  be  equal  in  extent  of  territory,  and  equal  in  number 
of  inhabitants — in  what,  as  a  matter  of  principle,  is  the  State 
better  than  the  county  ?  Would  an  exchange  of  names  be  an 
exchange  of  rights  upon  principle  ?  On  what  rightful  principle 
may  a  State,  being  not  more  than  one-fiftieth  part  of  the  nation 
in  soil  and  population,  break  up  the  nation,  and  then  coerce  a 
proportionally  larger  subdivision  of  itself,  in  the  most  arbitrary 
way  ?  What  mysterious  right  to  play  tyrant  is  conferred  on 
a  district  of  country,  with  its  people,  by  merely  calling  it  a 
State  ? 

"  Fellow-citizens,  I  am  not  asserting  any  thing ;  I  am  merely 
asking  questions  for  you  to  consider.  And  now,  allow  me  to 
bid  you  farewell." 

On  the  morning  of  the  twelfth,  Mr.  Lincoln  arrived 
at  Cincinnati,  having  been  greeted  along  the  route  by 
the  hearty  applause  of  the  thousands  assembled  at  the 
successive  stations.  His  reception  at  Cincinnati  was 
overwhelming.  Through  streets  so  densely  crowded 
that  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  the  procession 
could  secure  a  passage,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  escorted  to  the 
Burnett  House,  which  had  been  handsomely  decorated 
in  honor  of  his  visit.  There  he  was  welcomed  by  the 
Mayor  of  the  city  in  a  few  remarks,  in  response  to 
which  he  said : 

"  MR.  MAYOR  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  : — I  have  spoken  but 
once  before  this  in  Cincinnati.  That  was  a  year  previous  to  the 
late  Presidential  election.  On  that  occasion,  in  a  playful  manner, 
but  with  sincere  words,  I  addressed  much  of  what  I  said  to  the 
Kentuckians.  I  gave  my  opinion  that  we,  as  Eepublicans, 
would  ultimately  beat  them  as  Democrats ;  but  that  they  could 


204  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

postpone  that  result  longer  by  nominating  Senator  Douglas  for 
the  Presidency,  than  they  could  in  any  other  way.  They  did 
not,  in  any  true  sense  of  the  word,  nominate  Mr.  Douglas,  and 
the  result  has  come  certainly  as  soon  as  ever  I  expected.  I 
also  cold  them  how  I  expected  they  would  be  treated  after  they 
should  have  been  beaten  ;  and  I  now  wish  to  call  their  attention 
to  what  I  then  said  upon  that  subject.  I  then  said— '"When 
we  do  as  we  say,  beat  you,  you  perhaps  want  to  know  what  we 
will  do  with  you.  I  will  tell  you,  as  far  as  I  am  authorized  to 
speak  for  the  opposition,  what  we  mean  to  do  with  you.  "We 
mean  to  treat  you,  as  near  as  we  possibly  can,  as  Washing 
ton,  Jefferson  and  Madison,  treated  you.  We  mean  to  leave 
you  alone,  and  in  no  way  to  interfere  with  your  institutions ; 
to  abide  by  all  and  every  compromise  of  the  Constitution  ;  and 
in  a  word,  coming  back  to  the  original  proposition,  to  treat  you 
so  far  as  degenerate  men,  if  we  have  degenerated,  may,  accord 
ing  to  the  example  of  those  noble  fathers,  Washington,  Jeffer 
son  and  Madison.  We  mean  to  remember  that  you  are  as 
good  as  we  ;  that  there  is  no  difference  between  us,  other  than 
the  difference  of  circumstances.  We  mean  to  recognize  and 
bear  in  mind  always  that  you  have  as  good  hearts  in  your 
bosoms  as  other  people,  or  as  we  claim  to  have,  and  treat  you 
accordingly.' 

"  Fellow -citizens  of  Kentucky  I  friends  I  brethren,  may  I 
call  you  in  my  new  position  ?  I  see  no  occasion,  and  feel  no 
inclination  to  retract  a  word  of  this.  If  it  shall  not  be  made 
good,  be  assured  the  fault  shall  not  be  mine." 

To  the  German  Kepublican  associations  which  called 
upon  him  for  an  address  of  congratulation,  he  responded, 
warmly  endorsing  the  wisdom  of  the  Homestead  bill, 
and  speaking  of  the  advantages  offered  by  the  soil  and 
institutions  of  the  United  States  to  foreigners  who 
might  wish  to  make  it  their  home.  He  left  Cincinnati 
on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  accompanied  by  a  commit- 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  205 

tee  of  the  Ohio  Legislature,  which  had  come  from  the 
Capital  to  meet  him.  The  party  reached  Columbus  at 
2  o'clock,  and  the  President  was  escorted  to  the  hall  of 
the  Assembly,  where  he  was  formally  welcomed  by 
the  Lieutenant-Go vernor  on  behalf  of  the  Legislature 
assembled  in  joint  session,  to  which  he  made  the  follow 
ing  reply: 

"MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  MR.  SPEAKER,  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF 
THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  : — It  is  true,  as  has  been  said  by  the 
President  of  the  Senate,  that  very  great  responsibility  rests 
upon  me  in  the  position  to  which  the  votes  of  the  American 
people  have  called  me.  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  that  weighty 
responsibility.  I  cannot  but  know  what  you  all  know,  that 
without  a  name,  perhaps  without  a  reason  why  I  should  have  a 
name,  there  has  fallen  upon  me  a  task  such  as  did  not  rest  even 
upon  the  Father  of  his  country,  and  so  feeling,  I  cannot  but 
turn  and  look  for  the  support  without  which  it  will  be  impossi 
ble  for  me  to  perform  that  great  task.  I  turn,  then,  and 
look  to  the  great  American  people,  and  to  that  God  who  has 
never  forsaken  them. 

"  Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  interest  felt  in  relation  to 
the  policy  of  the  new  administration.  In  this  I  have  received 
from  some  a  degree  of  credit  for  having  kept  silence,  and  from 
others  some  depreciation.  I  still  think  that  I  was  right.  In 
the  varying  and  repeatedly  shifting  scenes  of  the  present,  and 
without  a  precedent  which  could  enable  me  to  judge  by  the 
past,  it  has  seemed  fitting  that  before  speaking  upon  the  diffi 
culties  of  the  country,  I  should  have  gained  a  view  of  the 
whole  field  so  as  to  be  sure  after  all — at  liberty  to  modify  and 
change  the  course  of  policy  as  future  events  may  make  a 
change  necessary.  I  have  not  maintained  silence  from  any 
want  of  real  anxiety.  It  is  a  good  thing  that  there  is  no  more 
than  anxiety,  for  there  is  nothing  going  wrong.  It  is  a  con 
soling  circumstance  that  when  we  look  out,  there  is  nothing 


206  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

that  really  hurts  anybody.  "We  entertain  different  views  upon 
political  questions,  but  nobody  is  suffering  any  thing.  This  is 
a  most  consoling  circumstance,  and  from  it  we  may  conclude 
that  all  we  want  is  time,  patience,  and  a  reliance  on  that  God 
who  has  never  forsaken  this  people.  Fellow-citizens,  what  I 
have  said  I  have  said  altogether  extemporaneously,  and  will 
now  come  to  a  close." 

Both  Houses  then  adjourned,  and  in  the  evening  Mr. 
Lincoln  held  a  levee,  which  was  very  largely  attended. 
On  the  morning  of  the  14th,  he  left  Columbus.  At 
Steubenville,  on  the  route,  in  reply  to  an  address,  he 
said : 

"  T  fear  the  great  confidence  placed  in  my  ability  is  unfounded. 
Indeed,  I  am  sure  it  is.  Encompassed  by  vast  difficulties,  as  I 
am,  nothing  shall  be  wanted  on  my  part,  if  sustained  by  the 
American  people  and  God.  I  believe  the  devotion  to  the  Con 
stitution  is  equally  great  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  It  is  only 
the  different  understanding  of  that  instrument  that  causes 
difficulties.  The  only  dispute  is,  '  What  are  their  rights  ?'  If 
the  majority  should  not  rule,  who  should  be  the  judge? 
Where  is  such  a  judge  to  be  found  ?  We  should  all  be  bound 
by  the  majority  of  the  American  people — if  not,  then  the 
minority  must  control.  Would  that  be  right  ?  Would  it  be 
just  or  generous?  Asssuredly  not." 

He  reiterated  that  the  majority  should  rule :  saying 
that  if  he  adopted  a  wrong  policy,  the  opportunity  to 
condemn  him  would  occur  in  four  years'  time.  "  Then 
I  can  be  turned  out,  and  a  better  man  with  better 
views  put  in  my  place." 

At  Pittsburg,  on  the  15th,  he  received  a  formal 
welcome,  to  which  he  responded  as  follows  : 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO  WASHINGTON.  207 

"  The  condition  of  the  country  is  an  extraordinary  one,  and 
fills  the  mind  of  every  patriot  with  anxiety.  It  is  my  intention 
to  give  this  subject  all  the  consideration  I  possibly  can;  before 
specially  deciding  in  regard  to  it,  so  that  when  I  do  speak,  it 
may  be  as  nearly  right  as  possible.  When  I  do  speak,  I  hope  I 
may  say  nothing  in  opposition  to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution, 
'contrary  to  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  or  which  will  prove 
inimical  to  the  liberties  of  the  people  or  to  the  peace  of  the 
whole  country.  And,  furthermore,  when  the  time  arrives  for 
me  to  speak  on  this  great  subject,  I  hope  I  may  say  nothing  to 
disappoint  the  people  generally  throughout  the  country, 
especially  if  the  expectation  has  been  based  upon  any  thing 
which  I  may  have  heretofore  said.  Notwithstanding  the 
troubles  across  the  river — (the  speaker  pointing  southwardly 
across  the  Monongahela,  and  smiling) — there  is  no  crisis  but  an 
artificial  one.  What  is  there  now  to  warrant  the  condition  of 
affairs  presented  by  our  friends  over  the  river?  Take  even 
their  own  view  of  the  questions  involved,  and  there  is  nothing 
to  justify  the  course  they  are  pursuing.  I  repeat,  then,  there 
is  no  crisis,  excepting  such  a  one  as  may  be  gotten  up  at  any  time 
by  turbulent  men,  aided  by  designing  politicians.  My  advice 
to  them,  under  such  circumstances,  is  to  keep  cool.  If  the  great 
American  people  only  keep  their  temper  on  both  sides  of  the 
line,  the  troubles  will  come  to  an  end,  and  the  question  which 
now  distracts  the  country  will  be  settled,  just  as  surely  as  all 
other  difficulties  of  a  like  character  which  have  originated  in 
this  government  have  been  adjusted.  Let  the  people  on  both 
?ides  keep  their  self-possession,  and  just  as  other  clouds  have 
cleared  away  in  due  time,  so  will  this  great  nation  continue  to 
prosper  as  heretofore." 

He  then  remarked  at  some  length  upon  the  tariff 
question — a  subject  of  peculiar  interest  to  Pennsylva- 
nians,  and  fully  endorsed  the  twelfth  section  of  the 
Chicago  platform. 


208  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Mr.  Lincoln  left  Pittsburg  immediately  after  the 
delivery  of  this  speech,  being  accompanied  to  the  depot 
by  an  immense  procession  of  the  people  of  the  city.  The 
train  reached  Cleveland  at  half  past  four  in  the  after 
noon,  where  he  was  received  by  a  long  procession,  which 
inarched,  amidst  the  roar  of  artillery,  through  the 
principal  streets  to  the  Weddell  House,  where  Mr. 
Lincoln,  in  reply  to  an  address  of  welcome  from  the 
Mayor,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

"  It  is  with  you;  the  people,  to  advance  the  great  cause  of  the 
Union  and  the  Constitution,  and  not  with  any  one  man.  It 
rests  with  you  alone.  This  fact  is  strongly  impressed  on  my 
mind  at  present.  In  a  community  like  this,  whose  appearance 
testifies  to  their  intelligence,  I  am  convinced  that  the  cause  of 
liberty  and  the  Union  can  never  be  in  danger.  Frequent 
allusion  is  made  to  the  excitement  at  present  existing  in  our 
national  politics,  and  it  is  as  well  that  I  should  also  allude  to  it 
here.  I  think  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  any  excitement. 
The  crisis,  as  it  is  called,  is  altogether  an  artificial  crisis.  In 
all  parts  of  the  nation  there  are  differences  of  opinion  on 
politics.  There  are  differences  of  opinion  even  here.  You  did 
not  all  vote  for  the  person  who  now  addresses  you.  What  is 
happening  now  will  not  hurt  those  who  are  further  away  from 
here.  Have  they  not  all  their  rights  now  as  they  ever  have 
had  ?  Do  they  not  have  their  fugitive  slaves  returned  now  as 
ever?  Have  they  not  the  same  Constitution  that  they  have 
lived  under  for  seventy  odd  years  ?  Have  they  not  a  position 
as  citizens  of  this  common  country,  and  have  we  any  power  to 
change  that  position?  [Cries  of  'No.']  What,  then,  is  the 
matter  with  them  ?  Why  all  this  excitement  ?  Why  all  these 
complaints  ?  As  I  said  before,  this  crisis  is  all  artificial !  It 
has  no  foundation  in  fact.  It  was  not  '  argued  up,'  as  the 


INAUGURAL    TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  209 

saying  is,  and  cannot  therefore  be  argued  down.     Let  it  alone, 
and  it  will  go  down  of  itself." 

He  had  one  more  word  to  say.  He  was  given  to 
understand  that  this  reception  was  tendered  not  only  by 
his  own  party  supporters,  but  by  men  of  all  parties. 
This  is  as  it  should  be.  If  Judge  Douglas  had  been 
elected,  and  had  been  here,  on  his  way  to  Washington, 
as  I  am  to-night,  the  Kepublicans  should  have  joined 
his  supporters  in  welcoming  him,  just  as  his  friends 
have  joined  with  mine  to-night.  If  all  do  not  join  now 
to  save  the  good  old  ship  of  the  Union  on  this  voyage, 
nobody  will  have  a  chance  to  pilot  her  on  another 
voyage.  He  concluded  by  thanking  all  present  for  the 
devotion  they  had  shown  to  the  cause  of  the  Union. 

At  Syracuse,  where  preparations  had  been  made  to 
give  him  a  formal  reception,  he  made  the  following 
remarks  in  reply  to  an  address  of  welcome  from  the 
Mayor : 

"  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  : — I  see  you  have  erected  a  very 
fine  and  handsome  platform  here  for  me,  and  I  presume  you 
expected  me  to  speak  from  it.  If  I  should  go  upon  it,  you 
would  imagine  that  I  was  about  to  deliver  you  a  much  longer 
speech  than  I  am.  I  wish  you  to  understand  that  I  mean 
no  discourtesy  to  you  by  thus  declining.  I  intend  discourtesy 
to  no  one.  But  I  wish  you  to  understand  that,  though  I  am 
unwilling  to  go  upon  this  platform,  you  are  not  at  liberty  to 
draw  any  inferences  concerning  any  other  platform  with  which 
my  name  has  been  or  is  connected.  [Laughter  and  applause.] 
I  wish  you  long  life  and  prosperity  individually,  and  pray  that 
with  the  perpetuity  of  those  institutions  under  which  we  have 
all  so  long  lived  and  prospered,  our  happiness  may  be  secured, 
our  future  made  brilliant,  and  the  glorious  destiny  of  our 
country  established  forever.  I  bid  you  a  kind  farewell." 
14 


210  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

At  Utica,  an  immense  and  enthusiastic  assemblage 
of  people  from  the  surrounding  country,  had  gathered 
to  see  him,  but  Mr.  Lincoln  contented  himself  by 
saying : 

"  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  : — I  have  no  speech  to  make 
to  you,  and  no  time  to  speak  in.  I  appear  before  you  that  I 
may  see  you,  and  that  you  may  see  me ;  and  I  am  willing  to 
admit,  that  so  far  as  the  ladies  are  concerned,  I  have  the  best 
of  the  bargain,  though  I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  I  do  not 
make  the  same  acknowledgment  concerning  the  men.  [Laugh 
ter  and  applause.]" 

On  his  arrival  at  Albany,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  escorted  to 
the  Hall  of  Assembly,  and  there  received  a  formal 
welcome  from  the  Legislature,  in  reply  to  which,  he 
made  the  following  address  : 

"MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE 
OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK: — It  is  with  feelings  of  great 
diffidence,  and  I  may  say,  feelings  even  of  awe,  perhaps 
greater  than  I  have  recently  experienced,  that  I  meet  you 
here  in  this  place.  The  history  of  this  great  State,  the 
renown  of  its  great  men,  who  have  stood  in  this  chamber, 
and  have  spoken  their  thoughts,  all  crowd  around  my 
fancy,  and  incline  me  to  shrink  from  an  attempt  to  address 
you.  Yet  I  have  some  confidence  given  me  by  the  generous 
manner  in  which  you  have  invited  me,  and  the  still  more 
generous  manner  in  which  you  have  received  me.  You 
have  invited  me  and  received  me  without  distinction  of  party. 
I.  could  not  for  a  moment  suppose  that  this  has  been  done  in 
any  considerable  degree  with  any  reference  to  my  personal 
self.  It  is  very  much  more  grateful  to  me  that  this  reception 
and  the  invitation  preceding  it,  were  given  to  me  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  a  free  people,  than  it  could  possibly  have  been 
were  they  but  the  evidence  of  devotion  to  me  or  to  any  one 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  211 

man.  It  is  true  that,  while  I  hold  myself,  without  mock- 
modesty,  the  humblest  of  all  the  individuals  who  have  ever 
been  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  I  yet  have  a  more 
difficult  task  to  perform  than  any  one  of  them  has  ever 
encountered.  You  have  here  generously  tendered  me  the 
support,  the  united  support,  of  the  great  Empire  State.  For 
this,  in  behalf  of  the  nation — in  behalf  of  the  present  and  of 
the  future  of  the  nation — in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  civil  liberty 
in  all  time  to  come — I  most  gratefully  thank  you.  I  do  not 
propose  now  to  enter  upon  any  expressions  as  to  the  particular 
Ime  of  policy  to  be  adopted  with  reference  to  the  difficulties 
that  stand  before  us  in  the  opening  of  the  incoming  adminis 
tration.  I  deem  that  it  is  just  to  the  country,  to  myself,  to  you, 
that  I  should  see  every  thing,  hear  every  thing,  and  have  every 
light  that  can  possibly  be  brought  within  my  reach,  to  aid  me 
before  I  shall  speak  officially,  in  order  that,  when  I  do  speak, 
I  may  have  the  best  possible  means  of  taking  correct  and  true 
grounds.  For  this  reason,  I  do  not  now  announce  any  thing 
in  the  way  of  policy  for  the  new •  administration.  When  the 
time  comes,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  government,  I  shall 
speak,  and  speak  as  well  as  I  am  able,  for  the  good  of  the 
present  and  of  the  future  of  this  country — for  the  good  of  the 
North  and  of  the  South — for  the  good  of  one  and  of  the 
other,  and  of  all  sections  of  it.  In  the  meantime,  if  we  have 
patience,  if  we  maintain  our  equanimity,  though  some  may 
allow  themselves  to  run  off  in  a  burst  of  passion,  I  still  have 
confidence  that  the  Almighty  Euler  of  the  Universe,  through 
the  instrumentality  of  this  great  and  intelligent  people,  can  and 
will  bring  us  through  this  difficulty,  as  he  has  heretofore 
brought  us  through  all  preceding  difficulties  of  the  country. 
Kelying  upon  this,  and  again  thanking  you,  as  I  forever  shall, 
in  my  heart,  for  this  generous  reception  you  have  given  me,  I 
bid  you  farewell." 

At  Albany,  he  was  met  by  a  delegation  from  the  city 


212  'THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

authorities  of  New  York,  and  on  the  19th  started  for 
that  city. 

At  Poughkeepsie,  where  great  preparations  had  been 
made  for  his  reception,  he  responded  thus  to  an  address 
from  the  Mayor : 

"FELLOW  CITIZENS: — It  is  altogether  impossible  I  should 
make  myself  heard  by  any  considerable  portion  of  this  vas* 
assemblage ;  but,  although  I  appear  before  you  mainly  for  the 
purpose  of  seeing  you,  and  to  let  you  see,  rather  than  hear  me, 
I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  I  am  highly  gratified,— as 
much  here,  indeed,  under  the  circumstances,  as  I  have  been 
anywhere  on  my  route, — to  witness  this  noble  demonstration — 
made,  not  in  honor  of  an  individual,  but  of  the  man  who 
at  this  time  humbly,  but  earnestly,  represents  the  majesty 
of  the  nation.  This  reception,  like  all  others  that  have  been 
tendered  to  me,  doubtless  emanates  from  all  the  political 
parties,  and  not  from  one  alone.  As  such,  I  accept  it  the  more 
gratefully,  since  it  indicates  an  earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
whole  people,  without  regard  to  political  differences,  to  save — 
not  the  country,  because  the  country  will  save  itself — but 
to  save  the  institutions  of  the  country — those  institutions  under 
which,  in  the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century,  we  have  grown 
to  be  a  great,  an  intelligent,  and  a  happy  people — the  greatest, 
the  most  intelligent,  and  the  happiest  people  in  the  world. 
These  noble  manifestations  indicate,  with  unerring  certainty, 
that  the  whole  people  are  willing  to  make  common  cause 
for  this  object;  that  if,  as"  it  ever  must  be,  some  have  been 
successful  in  the  recent  election,  and  some  have  been  beaten, — 
if  some  are  satisfied,  and  some  are  dissatisfied,  the  defeated 
•party  are  not  in  favor  of  sinking  the  ship,  but  are  desirous 
of  running  it  through  the  tempest  in  safety,  and  willing,  if 
they  think  the  people  have  committed  an  error  in  their  verdict 
now,  to  wait  in  the  hope  of  reversing  it,  and  setting  it  right 
next  time.  I  do  not  say  that  in  the  recent  election  the  people 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  213 

did  the  wisest  thing  that  could  have  been  done;  indeed,  I 
do  not  think  they  did ;  but  I  do  say,  that  in  accepting  the 
great  trust  committed  to  me,  which  I  do  with  a  determination 
to  endeavor  to  prove  worthy  of  it,  I  must  rely  upon  you,  upon 
the  people  of  the  whole  country,  for  support ;  and  with  their 
sustaining  aid,  even  I,  humble  as  I  am,  cannot  fail  to  carry  the 
ship  of  State  safely  through  the  storm. 

"I  have  now  only  to  thank  you  warmly  for  your  kind 
attendance,  and  bid  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell/' 

At  Peekskill,  in  reply  to  a  brief  address  from  Judge 
Nelson,  he  said : 

"  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  : — I  have  but  a  moment  to  stand 
before  you,  to  listen  to  and  return  your  kind  greeting.  I 
thank  you  for  this  reception,  and  for  the  pleasant  manner  in 
which  it  is  tendered  to  ine,  by  our  mutual  friend.  I  will  say 
in  a  single  sentence,  in  regard  to  the  difficulties  that  lie  before 
me  and  our  beloved  country,  that  if  I  can  only  be  as  generously 
and  unanimously  sustained,  as  the  demonstrations  I  have 
witnessed  indicate  I  shall  be,  I  shall  not  fail;  but  without 
your  sustaining  hands  I  am  sure  that  neither  I,  nor  any  other 
man,  can  hope  to  surmount  these  difficulties.  I  trust  that 
in  the  course  I  shall  pursue,  I  shall  be  sustained  not  only 
by  the  party  that  elected  me,  but  by  the  patriotic  people  of  the 
whole  country. 

The  President-elect  reached  New  York  at  3  o'clock, 
and  his  reception  there  was  one  of  the  most  interesting 
demonstrations  ever  witnessed  in  behalf  of  a  single 
individual.  Work  generally  was  suspended.  By  noon 
the  great  thoroughfare  of  Broadway— down  which  the 
cortege  would  pass — became  crowded  with  the  outpour 
ing  multitude.  Houses  were  lined  with  spectators; 
the  "  Stars  and  Stripes"  hung  from  a  thousand  windows, 


214  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  floated  from  a  thousand  house-tops ;  banners  were 
flung  across  the  streets,  bearing  enlivening  and  patriotic 
inscriptions ;  the  shipping  in  the  harbor  was  decorated 
in  all  its  various  colors;  handkerchiefs  floated  from 
innumerable  windows  and  doors,  while  beauty  and 
fashion  shone  out  of  casements  like  creations  especially 
ordered  to  grace  that  Republican  triumph.  The  crowd 
on  the  streets  numbered  several  hundred  thousand ;  but, 
so  admirably  were  all  arrangements  made  by  the  excel 
lent  police  of  the  city,  that  no  accident  or  "row"  occurred 
to  mar  the  quiet  and  pleasure  of  the  afternoon.  As  the 
Presidential  carriage  passed  down  the  street,  the  huzzas 
became  deafening.  The  great  lines  of  waving  flags  and 
handkerchiefs  looked  like  ripples  bursting  and  flying 
before  the  ship's  prow,  and  scintillating  and  eddying  in 
her  wake.  The  President  stood  uncovered,  bowing 
to  the  people,  and  acknowledging  the  welcome  extended 
on  every  side.  A  reporter  of  one  of  the  city  journals 
wrote  of  the  demonstration  : 

"  We  but  reflect  the  popular  opinion,  when  we  say  that  the 
ovation  was  one  of  the  grandest  and  most  soul-stirring  we  have 
ever  witnessed.  Though  the  President-elect  was  evidently 
jaded,  careworn,  and  oppressed  with  a  weighty  responsibility, 
he  was  also  firm,  self-possessed,  and  appeared  equal  to  the 
stupendous  task  before  him.  He  seemed  to  impress  the  people 
with  this  conviction,  as  he  rode  along,  and  a  glimpse  of  his 
plain,  straight-forward,  honest  face,  so  full  of  deep,  earnest 
thought,  of  direct  singleness  of  purpose,  of  thorough  purity  of 
motive  and  patriotic  impulse,  so  won  upon  the  multitude,  that 
they  burst  into  such  spontaneous,  irrepressible  cheers,  as 
gladdened  the  heart  and  moistened  the  eye,  and  made  every 
body  forget  the  turbulence  and  anarchy  of  secession,  now 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  215 

raging  in  the  land,  in  their  implicit  confidence  in  the  coming 
man." 

In  the  evening,  he  received  a  welcome  from  the 
various  Kepublican  associations  which  had  participated 
in  the  election  canvass,  whom  he  thus  addressed : 

'  ME.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN  : — I  am  rather  an  old  man 
to  avail  myself  of  such  an  excuse  as  I  am  now  about  to  do. 
Yet  the  truth  is  so  distinct,  and  presses  itself  so  distinctly  upon 
me,  that  I  cannot  well  avoid  it — and  that  is,  that  I  did  not 
understand  when  I  was  brought  into  this  room  that  I  was 
brought  here  to  make  a  speech.  It  was  not  intimated  to  me 
that  I  was  brought  into  the  room  where  Daniel  Webster  and 
Henry  Clay  had  made  speeches,  and  where,  in  my  position,  I 
might  be  expected  to  do  something  like  those  men,  or  do  some 
thing  worthy  of  myself  or  my  audience.  I,  therefore,  will  beg 
you  to  make  very  great  allowance  for  the  circumstances  in 
which  I  have  been  by  surprise  brought  before  you.  JSTow,  I 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  thinking  and  speaking  sometimes 
upon  political  questions  that  have  for  some  years  past 
agitated  the  country ;  and,  if  I  were  disposed  to  do  so,  and  we 
could  take  up  some  one  of  the  issues,  as  the  lawyers  call  them, 
and  I  were  called  upon  to  make  an  argument  about  it  to  the 
best  of  my  ability,  I  could  do  so  without  much  preparation. 
But,  that  is  not  what  you  desire  to  be  done  here  to-night. 

"I  have  been  occupying  a  position  since  the  Presidential 
election  of  silence,  of  avoiding  public  speaking,  of  avoiding 
public  writing.  I  have  been  doing  so,  because  I  thought,  upon 
full  consideration,  that  was  the  proper  course  for  me  to  take 
[Great  applause.]  I  am  brought  before  you  now,  and  required 
to  make  a  speech,  when  you  all  approve  more  than  any  thing 
else  of  the  fact  that  I  have  been  keeping  silence.  [Great 
laughter,  cries  oi> '  Good,'  and  applause.]  And  now  it  seems  to 
.ne  that  the  response  you  give  to  that  remark  ought  to  justify 
me  in  closing  just  here.  [Great  laughter.]  I  have  not  kept 


216  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LIXCOLX. 

silence  since  the  Presidential  election  from  any  party  wanton 
ness,  or  from  any  indifference  to  the  anxiety  that  pervades  the 
minds  of  men  about  the  aspect  of  the  political  affairs  of  this 
country.  I  have  kept  silence  for  the  reason  that  I  supposed  it 
was  peculiarly  proper  that  I  should  do  so  until  the  time  came 
when,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  I  could  speak 
officially.  [A  voice — The  custom  of  the  country.]  I  heard 
some  gentleman  say;  'According  to  the  custom  of  the  country.' 
I  alluded  to  the  custom  of  the  President-elect,  at  the  time  of 
taking  the  oath  of  office.  That  is  what  I  meant  by  'the  custom 
of  the  country.'  I  do  suppose  that,  while  the  political  drama 
being  enacted  in  this  country,  at  this  time,  is  rapidly  shifting 
its  scenes— forbidding  an  anticipation,  with  any  degree  of  cer 
tainty,  to-day,  what  we  shall  see  to-morrow — it  was  peculiarly 
fitting  that  I  should  see  it  all,  up  to  the  last  minute,  before  I 
should  take  ground  that  I  might  be  disposed  (by  the  shifting 
of  the  scenes  afterwards)  also  to  shift.  [Applause.]  I  have 
said  several  times,  upon  this  journey,  and  I  now  repeat  it  to 
you,  that  when  the  time  does  come,  1  shall  then  take  the 
ground  that  I  think  is  right— [applause]— the  ground  that  I 
think  is  right— [applause,  and  cries  of  '  Good,  good']— right  for 
the  north,  for  the  south,  for  the  east,  for  the  west,  for  the  whole 
country.  [Cries  of  '  Good,'  'Hurrah  for  Lincoln,'  and  applause.] 
And  in  doing  so,  I  hope  to  feel  no  necessity  pressing  upon  me 
to  say  any  thing  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution ;  in  conflict 
with  the  continued  union  of  these  States — [applause] in  con 
flict  with  the  perpetuation  of  the  liberties  of  this  people 

[applause]— or  any  thing  in  conflict  with  any  thing  whatever 
that  I  have  ever  given  you  reason  to  expect  from  me. 
[Applause.]  And  now,  my  friends,  have  I  said  enough? 
[Loud  cries  of  'No,  no,'  and  three  cheers  for  Lincoln.]  Now, 
my  friends,  there  appears  to  be  a  difference  of  opinion  between 
you  and  me,  and  I  really  feel  called  upon  to  decide  the  question 
myself.  [Applause,  during  which  Mr.  Lincoln  descended  from 
the  table.]" 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  217 

On  the  morning  of  the  20th  Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded  to 
the  City  Hall,  where  it  had  been  arranged  that  he 
should  have  an  official  reception.  He  was  addressed  by 
Mayor  Wood,  a  recognized  Democrat  of  the  strictest 
"  States  rights"  and  pro-slavery  sect — in  an  "  official 
welcome"  as  frigid  as  courtesy  would  permit.  He 
simply  read  his  august  guest  a  brief  lecture  on  his  duty 
— presuming,  with  the  usual  impudence  of  Democrats 
of  the  pro-slavery  school,  that  a  "  Black  Republican" 
did  not  know  what  duty  was.  The  President's  reply 
was  couched  in  a  dignity  and  good  taste  quite  in  con 
trast  with  the  want  of  both  in  his  host. 

"  MR.  LINCOLN  :  As  Mayor  of  New  York,  it  becomes  my  duty 
to  extend  to  you  an  official  welcome  in  behalf  of  the  Corpora 
tion.  In  doing  so  permit  me  to  say,  thac  this  city  has  never 
offered  hospitality  to  a  man  clothed  with  more  exalted  powers, 
or  resting  under  graver  responsibilities,  than  those  which  cir 
cumstances  have  devolved  upon  you.  Coming  into  office  with 
a  dismembered  government  to  reconstruct,  and  a  disconnected 
and  hostile  people  to  reconcile,  it  will  require  a  high  patriot 
ism,  and  an  elevated  comprehension  of  the  whole  country  and 
its  varied  interests,  opinions,  and  prejudices,  to  so  conduct 
public  affairs  as  to  bring  it  back  again  to  its  former  harmo 
nious,  consolidated,  and  prosperous  condition.  If  I  :efer  to 
this  topic,  sir,  it  is  because  New  York  is  deeply  interested. 
The  present  political  divisions  have  sorely  afflicted  her  people. 
All  her  material  interests  are  paralyzed;  Her  commercial 
greatness  is  endangered.  She  is  the  child  of  the  American 
Union.  She  has  grown  up  under  its  material  care,  and  been 
fostered  by  its  paternal  bounty,  and  we  fear  that  if  the  Union 
dies,  the  present  supremacy  of  New  York  may  perish  with  it. 
To  you,  therefore,  chosen  under  the  forms  of  the  Constitution 
as  the  head  of  the  Confederacy,  we  look  for  a  restoration  of 


218  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

fraternal  relations  between  the  States — only  to  be  accomplished 
by  peaceful  and  conciliatory  means,  aided  by  the  wisdom  of 
Almighty  God." 

To  this  address  Mr.  Lincoln  made  the  following 
reply : 

"  MR.  MAYOR  : — It  is  with  feelings  of  deep  gratitude  that  I 
make  my  acknowledgments  for  the  reception  that  has  been 
given  rne  in  the  great  commercial  city  of  New  York.  I  cannot 
but  remember  that  it  is  done  by  the  people  who  do  not,  .  y  i 
large  majority,  agree  with  me  in  political  sentiment.  It  is  the 
more  grateful  to  me,  because  in  this  I  see  that  for  the  great 
principles  of  our  government  the  people  are  pretty  nearly  or 
quite  unanimous.  In  regard  to  the  difficulties  that  confront  us 
at  this  time,  and  of  which  you  have  seen  fit  to  speak  so  becom 
ingly  and  so  justly,  I  can  only  say  that  I  agree  with  the  senti 
ments  expressed.  In  my  devotion  to  the  Union,  I  hope  I  am 
behind  no  man  in  the  nation.  As  to  my  wisdom  in  conducting 
affairs  so  as  to  tend  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  I  fear  too 
great  confidence  may  have  been  placed  in  me.  I  am  sure  I 
bring  a  heart  devoted  to  the  work.  There  is  nothing  that 
could  ever  bring  me  to  consent — willingly  to  consent — to  the 
destruction  of  this  Union,  in  which  not  only  the  great  city  of 
New  York,  but  the  whole  country,  has  acquired  its  greatness, 
unless  it  would  be  that  thing  for  which,  the  Union  itself  was 
made.  I  understand  that  the  ship  is  made  for  the  carrying  and 
preservation  of  the  cargo ;  and  so  long  as  the  ship  is  safe  with 
the  cargo,  it  shall  not  be  abandoned.  This  Union  shall  never 
be  abandoned,  unless  the  possibility  of  its  existence  shall  cease 
to  exist  without  the  necessity  of  throwing  passengers  and  cargo 
overboard.  So  long,  then,  as  it  is  possible  that  the  prosperity 
and  liberties  of  the  people  can  be  preserved  within  this  Union, 
it  shall  be  my  purpose  at  all  times  to  preserve  it.  And  now, 
Mr.  Mayor,  renewing  my  thanks  for  this  cordial  reception, 
allow  me  to  come  to  a  close."  [Applause.] 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  219 

A  public  introduction  followed.  For  two  hours  the 
patient  crowd  passed  the  President,  each  person  shaking 
him  by  the  hand  in  hurried  salutation.  Many  had  a 
word  to  offer — to  all  of  which  the  Chief  Magistrate 
replied  kindly.  Keturning  to  the  "Astor,"  Mr.  Lincoln 
received  the  leading  men  of  the  city  and  State,  as  well 
as  those  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  Vice- 
President-elect,  Mr.  Hamlin,  joined  the  President  here. 
During  the  evening,  the  opera  was  visited,  and  his 
appearance  in  the  stage-box  was  greeted  by  a  perfect 
storm  of  applause.  The  curtain  lifted,  and  the  chorus 
came  forward,  while  two  celebrated  singers  sung  the 
"  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  to  the  chorus  of  which  the 
audience  added  its  shouts  of  approval.  "Hail  Colum 
bia"  followed,  with  equal  popular  furore.  Un  baUo  in 
Maschera  was  for  a  moment  forgotten,  and  overwhelmed 
in  the  crude  lyric.  At  the  end  of  the  second  act  of 
the  opera  the  President  and  his  escort  returned  to  the 
"Astor,"  where  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  holding  a  reception. 

On  the  morning  of  Thursday,  the  twenty-first,  Mr. 
Lincoln  left  New  York  for  Philadelphia,  and  on  reach 
ing  Jersey  City,  was  met  and  welcomed,  on  behalf  of 
the  State,  by  the  Hon.  W.  L.  Dayton. 

At  Newark  he  was  welcomed  by  the  Mayor,  to  whom 
he  said: 

"MB.  MAYOR: — I  thank  you  for  this  reception  at  the  city  of 
Newark.  With  regard  to  the  great  work  of  which  you  speak, 
I  will  say  that  I  bring  to  it  a  heart  filled  with  love  for  my 
country,  and  an  honest  desire  to  do  what  is  right.  I  am  sure, 
however,  that  I  have  not  the  ability  to  do  any  thing  unaided 
of  Grod,  and  that,  without  his  support,,  and  that  of  this  free, 
happy,  prosperous  and  intelligent  people,  no  man  can  succeed 


220  %TIIE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

in  doing  that,  the  importance  of  which  we  all  comprehend. 
Again  thanking  you  for  the  reception  you  have  given  me,  I 
will  now  bid  you  farewell;  and  proceed  upon  my  journey." 

At  Trenton  he  remained  a  few  hours,  and  visited 
both  Houses  of  the  Legislature.  On  being  received  in 
the  Senate,  he  thus  addressed  that  body : 

"  MB.  PRESIDENT,  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  SENATE  OF  THE 
STATE  OF  NEW  JERSEY: — I  am  grateful  to  you  for  the  honora 
ble  reception  of  which  I  have  been  the  object.  I  cannot  but 
remember  the  place  that  New  Jersey  holds  in  our  early  history. 
In  the  early  Revolutionary  struggle,  few  of  th*e  States  among 
the  old  thirteen  had  more  of  the  battle-fields  of  the  country 
within  their  limits  than  old  New  Jersey.  May  I  be  pardoned 
if,  upon  this  occasion,  I  mention,  that  away  back  in  my  child 
hood,  the  earliest  days  of  my  being  able  to  read,  I  got  hold  of 
a  small  book,  such  a  one  as  few  of  the  younger  members  have 
ever  seen,  'WEEMs's  Life  of  Washington.'1  I  remember  all 
the  accounts  there  given  of  the  battle-fields  and  struggles  for 
the  liberties  of  the  country,  and  none  fixed  themselves  upon 
my  imagination  so  deeply  as  the  struggle  here  at  Trenton,  New 
Jersey.  The  crossing  of  the  river;  the  contest  with  the  Hes 
sians  ;  the  great  hardships  endured  at  that  time ;  all  fixed  them 
selves  on  my  memory  more  than  any  single  revolutionary 
event.  And  you  all  know,  for  you  have  all  been  boys,  how 
these  early  impressions  last  longer  than  any  others.  I  recol 
lect  thinking  then,  boy  even  though  I  was,  that  there  must 
have  been  something  more  than  common  that  these  men  strug 
gled  for.  I  am  exceedingly  anxious  that  that  thing  which  they 
struggled  for — that  something  even  more  than  national  inde 
pendence — that  something,  that  held  out  a  great  promise  to  all 
the  people  of  the  world  to  all  time  to  come — I  am  exceedingly 
anxious  that  this  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  shall  be  perpetuated,  in  accordance  with  the  original 
idea  for  which  that  struggle  was  made.  And  I  shall  be  most 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  221 

happy  indeed,  if  I  shall  be  an  humble  instrument,  in  the  hands 
of  the  Almighty  and  of  this  his  most  chosen  people,  as  the 
chosen  instrument,  also  in  the  hands  of  the  Almighty,  for  per 
petuating  the  object  of  that  great  struggle.  You  give  me  this 
reception,  as  I  understand,  without  distinction  of  party.  I  learn 
that  this  body  is  composed  of  a  majority  of  gentlemen  who,  in  the 
exercise  of  their  best  judgment  in  the  choice  of  a  Chief  Mag 
istrate,  did  not  think  I  was  the  man.  I  understand,  neverthe 
less,  that  they  come  forward  here  to  greet  me  as  the  constitu 
tional  President  of  the  United  States — as  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  to  meet  the  man  who,  for  the  time  being,  is  the  repre 
sentative  man  of  the  nation — united  by  a  purpose  to  perpetuate 
the  Union  and  liberties  of  the  people.  As  such,  I  accept  this 
reception  more  gratefully  than  I  could  do,  did  I  believe  it  was 
tendered  to  me  as  an  individual." 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  passed  to  the  Assembly  Chamber, 
where,  in  reply  to  the  Speaker,  he  said : 

"  MR.  SPEAKER  AND  GENTLEMEN  : — I  have  just  enjoyed  the 
honor  of  a  reception  by  the  other  branch  of  this  Legislature, 
and  I  return  to  you  and  them  my  thanks  for  the  reception 
which  the  people  of  New  Jersey  have  given  through  their 
chosen  representatives  to  me,  as  the  representative  for  the 
time  being  of  the  majesty  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
I  appropriate  to  myself  very  little  of  the  demonstrations  of 
respect  with  which  I  have  been  greeted.  I  think  little  should 
be  given  to  any  man,  but  that  it  should  be  a  manifestation  of 
adherence  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution.  I  understand 
myself  to  be  received  here  by  the  representatives  of  the  people 
of  New  Jersey,  a  majority  of  whom  differ  in  opinion  from 
those  with  whom  I  have  acted.  This  manifestation  is,  there 
fore,  to  be  regarded  by  me  as  expressing  their  devotion  to  the 
Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  liberties  of  the  people.  You, 
Mr.  Speaker,  have  well  said  that  this  is  a  time  when  the  bravest 
and  wisest  look  with  doubt  and  awe  upon  the  aspect  presented 


222  ,  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

by  our  national  affairs.  Under  these  circumstances,  you  will 
readily  see  why  I  should  not  speak  in  detail  of  the  course  I  shall 
deem  it  best  to  pursue.  It  is  proper  that  I  should  avail  myself 
of  all  the  information  and  all  the  time  at  my  command,  in  order 
that  when  the  time  arrives  in  which  I  must  speak  officially,  I 
shall  be  able  to  take  the  ground,  which  I  deem  the  best  and 
safest,  and  from  which  I  may  have  no  occasion  to  swerve.  I 
shall  endeavor  to  take  the  ground  I  deem  most  just  to  the 
North,  the  East,  the  West,  the  South,  and  the  whole  country. 
I  take  it,  I  hope,  in  good  temper,  certainly  with  no  malice 
towards  any  section.  I  shall  do  all  that  may  be  in  my  power 
to  promote  a  peaceful  settlement  of  all  our  difficulties.  The 
man  does  not  live  who  is  more  devoted  to  peace  than  I  am 
• — [Cheers] — none  who  would  do  more  to  preserve  it ;  but  it 
may  be  necessary  to  put  the  foot  down  firmly.  [Here  the  audi 
ence  broke  out  into  cheers,  so  loud  and  long  that  for  some  mo 
ments  it  was  impossible  to  hear  Mr.  Lincoln's  voice.]  And  if 
I  do  my  duty  and  do  right,  you  will  sustain  me,  will  you  not  ? 
[Loud  cheers,  and  cries  of  '  Yes,  yes,  we  will !']  Eeceived,  as 
I  am,  by  the  members  of  a  Legislature,  the  majority  of  whom 
do  not  agree  with  me  in  political  sentiments,  I  trust  that  I  may 
have  their  assistance  in  piloting  the  ship  of  State  through  this 
voyage,  surrounded  by  perils  as  it  is ;  for,  if  it  should  suffer 
wreck  now,  there  will  be  no  pilot  ever  needed  for  another 
voyage.  Gentlemen,  I  have  already  spoken  longer  than  I  in 
tended,  and  must  beg  leave  to  stop  here." 

The  procession  then  moved  to  the  Trenton  House, 
where  the  President-elect  made  another  speech  to  the 
assembled  crowd. 

On  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  received  with 
great  enthusiasm,  and  the  Mayor  greeted  him  with  an 
address,  to  which  he  replied  as  follows  : 

"  MR.  MAYOR  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  PHILADELPHIA  : — I 
appear  before  you  to  make  no  lengthy  speech,  but  to  thank  you 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  223 

for  this  reception.  The  reception  you  have  given  me  to-night 
is  not  to  me,  the  man,  the  individual,  but  to  the  man  who 
temporarily  represents,  or  should  represent  the  majesty  of  the 
nation.  [Cheers.]  It  is  true,  as  your  worthy  Mayor  has  said, 
that  there  is  anxiety  amongst  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
at  this  time.  I  deem  it  a  happy  circumstance  that  this  dis 
satisfied  position  of  our  fellow-citizens  does  not  point  us  to  any 
thing  in  which  they  are  being  injured,  or  about  to  be  injured, 
for  which  reason  I  have  felt  all  the  while  justified  in  conclud 
ing  that  the  crisis,  the  panic,  the  anxiety  of  the  country  at  this 
time,  is  artificial.  If  there  be  those  who  differ  with  me  upon 
this  subject,  they  have  not  pointed  out  the  substantial  difficulty 
that  exists.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  an  artificial  panic  may 
not  do  considerable  harm :  that  it  has  done  such  I  do  not  deny. 
The  hope  that  has  been  expressed  by  your  Mayor,  that  I  may 
be  able  to  restore  peace,  harmony,  and  prosperity  to  the 
country,  is  most  worthy  of  him ;  and  happy,  indeed,  will  I  be 
if  I  shall  be  able  to  verify  and  fulfil  that  hope.  [Tremendous 
cheering.]  I  promise  you,  in  all  sincerity,  that  I  bring  to  the 
work  a  sincere  heart.  Whether  I  will  bring  a  head  equal  to 
that  heart  will  be  for  future  times  to  determine.  It  were  useless 
for  me  to  speak  of  details  of  plans  now ;  I  shall  speak  officially 
next  Monday  week,  if  ever.  If  I  should  not  speak  then,  it 
were  useless  for  me  to  do  so  now.  If  I  do  speak  then  it  is 
useless  for  me  to  do  so  now.  When  I  do  speak,  I  shall  take 
such  ground  as  I  deem  best  calculated  to  restore  peace, 
harmony,  and  prosperity  to  the  country,  and  tend  to  the  per 
petuity  of  the  nation  and  the  liberty  of  these  States  and  these 
people.  Your  worthy  Mayor  has  expressed  the  wish,  in  which 
I  join  with  him,  that  it  were  convenient  for  me  to  remain  in 
your  city  long  enough  to  consult  your  merchants  and  manu 
facturers  ;  or,  as  it  were,  to  listen  to  those  breathings  rising 
within  the  consecrated  walls  wherein  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  I  will  add  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
were  originally  framed  and  adopted.  [Enthusiastic  applause. j» 


224  THE   LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

I  assure  you  and  your  Mayor  that  I  had  hoped  on  this  occasion, 
and  upon  all  occasions  during  my  life,  that  I  shall  do  nothing 
inconsistent  with  the  teachings  of  these  holy  and  most  sacred 
walls.  I  never  asked  any  thing  that  does  not  breathe  from 
these  walls.  All  my  political  warfare  has  been  in  favor  of  the 
teachings  that  came  forth  from  these  sacred  walls.  May  my 
right  hand  forget  its  cunning,  and  my  tongue  cleave  to  the 
roof  of  my  mouth,  if  ever  I  prove  false  to  those  teachings. 
Fellow-citizens,  I  have  addressed  you  longer  than  I  expected 
to  do,  and  now  allow  me  to  bid  you  good-night." 

On  the  next  morning,  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  "  Indepen 
dence  Hall,"  for  the  purpose  of  raising  the  national  flag 
over  it.     Here  he  was  received  with  a  warm  welcome, 
and  made  the  following  address : 

"  I  am  filled  with  deep  emotion  at  finding  myself  standing 
here  in  this  place,  where  were  collected  together  the  wisdom, 
the  patriotism,  the  devotion  to  principle,  from  which  sprang  the 
institutions  under  which  we  live.  You  have  kindly  suggested 
to  me  that  in  my  hands  is  the  task  of  restoring  peace  to  the 
present  distracted  condition  of  the  country.  I  can  say  in  return, 
sir,  that  all  the  political  sentiments  I  entertain  have  been  drawn, 
so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  draw  them,  from  the  sentiments 
which  originated  in  and  were  given  to  the  world  from  this 
hall.  I  have  never  had  a  feeling,  politically,  that  did  not 
spring  from  the  sentiments  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  I  have  often  pondered  over  the  dangers  which 
were  incurred  by  the  men  who  assembled  here,  and  framed 
and  adopted  that  Declaration  of  Independence.  I  have  pondered 
ov'er  the  toils  that  were  endured  by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  army  who  achieved  that  independence.  I  have  often 
inquired  of  myself  what  great  principle  or  idea  it  was  that  kept 
this  Confederacy  so  long  together.  It  was  not  the  mere  matter 
of  the  separation  of  the  colonies  from  the  mother  land,  but  that 
sentiment  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  which  gave 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  225 

liberty,  not  alone  to  the  people  of  this  country,  but,  I  hope,  to 
the  world,  for  all  future  time.  [Great  applause.]  It  was  that 
which  gave  promise  that  in  due  time  the  weight  would  be 
lifted  from  the  shoulders  of  all  men.  This  is  the  sentiment 
embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Now,  my 
friends,  can  this  country  be  saved  upon  that  basis  ?  If  it  can, 
I  will  consider  myself  one  of  the  happiest  men  in  the  world  if 
I  can  help  to  save  it.  If  it  cannot  be  saved  upon  that  principle, 
it  will  be  truly  awful.  But  if  this  country  cannot  be  saved 
without  giving  up  that  principle,  I  was  about  to  say  I  would 
rather  be  assassinated  upon  this  spot  than  surrender  it. 
[Applause.]  Now,  in  my  view  of  the  present  aspect  of  affairs, 
there  need  be  no  bloodshed  or  war.  There  is  no  necessity  for 
it.  I  am  not  in  favor  of  such  a  course,  and  I  may  say  in 
advance  that  there  will  be  no  bloodshed,  unless  it  be  forced 
upon  the  government,  and  then  it  will  be  compelled  to  act  in 
self-defence.  [Applause.] 

"  My  friends,  this  is  wholly  an  unexpected  speech,  and  I  did 
not  expect  to  be  called  upon  to  say  a  word  when  I  came  here. 
I  supposed  it  was  merely  to  do  something  towards  raising  the 
flag — I  may,  therefore,  have  said  something  indiscreet.  [Cries 
of  l  No,  no.']  I  have  said  nothing  but  what  I  am  willing  to 
live  by,  and,  if  it  be  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  die  by." 

The  party  then  proceeded  to  a  platform  erected  in 
front  of  the  State  House,  and  the  President-elect  was 
invited,  in  a  brief  address,  to  raise  the  flag.  He  re 
sponded  in  a  patriotic  speech,  announcing  his  cheerful 
compliance  with  the  request.  He  alluded  to  the  original 
flag  of  thirteen  stars,  saying  that  the  number  had  in 
creased  as  time  rolled  on  and  we  became  a  happy, 
powerful  people,  each  star  adding  to  its  prosperity. 
"  The  future,"  he  added,  "  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 
It  is  on  such  an  occasion  we  can  reason  together  and  re- 

15 


226  THE    LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

affirm  our  devotion  to  the  country  and  the  principles  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Let  us  make  up  our  minds 
that  whenever  we  do  put  a  new  star  upon  our  banner, 
it  shall  be  a  fixed  one,  never  to  be  dimmed  by  the 
horrors  of  war,  but  brightened  by  the  contentment  and 
prosperity  of  peace.  Let  us  go  on  to  extend  the  area  of 
our  usefulness,  and  add  star  upon  star  until  their  light 
shall  shine  over  five  hundred  millions  of  free  and  happy 
people."  He  then  performed  his  part  in  the  ceremony, 
amidst  a  thundering  discharge  of  artillery. 

In  the  afternoon  he  left  for  Harrisburg,  Pa.  At  that 
place,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  escorted  to  the  Legislature,  and 
was  welcomed  by  the  presiding  officers  of  the  two  houses, 
to  whom  he  replied  as  follows : 

"  I  appear  before  you  only  for  a  very  few,  brief  remarks,  in 
response  to  what  has  been  said  to  me.  I  thank  you  most  sin 
cerely  for  this  reception  and  the  generous  words  in  which  sup 
port  has  been  promised  me  upon  this  occasion.  I  thank  your 
great  Commonwealth  for  the  overwhelming  support  it  recently 
gave,  not  me  personally,  but  the  cause  which  I  think  a  just  one, 
in  the  late  election.  [Loud  applause.]  Allusion  has  been 
made  to  the  fact — the  interesting  fact,  perhaps,  we  should  say- 
that  I  for  the  first  time  appear  at  the  Capital  of  the  great  Com 
monwealth  of  Pennsylvania  upon  the  birthday  of  the  Father 
of  his  County,  in  connection  with  tnat  beloved  anniversary 
connected  with  the  history  of  this  country.  I  have  already 
gone  through  one  exceedingly  interesting  scene  this  morning 
in  the  ceremonies  at  Philadelphia.  Under  the  high  conduct  of 
gentlemen  there,  I  was  for  the  first  time  allowed  the  privilege 
of  standing  in  old  Independence  Hall  [enthusiastic  cheering], 
to  have  a  few  words  addressed  to  me  there,  and  opening  up  to 
me  an  opportunity  of  expressing,  with  much  regret,  that  I  had 
not  more  time  to  express  something  of  my  own  feelings,  ex- 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  227 

cited  by  the  occasion,  somewhat  to  harmonize  and  give  shape 
to  the  feelings  that  had  been  really  the  feelings  of  my  whole 
life.  Besides  this,  our  friends  there  had  provided  a  magnificent 
flag  of  the  country.  They  had  arranged  it  so  that  I  was  given 
the  honor  of  raising  it  to  the  head  of  its  staff.  [Applause.] 
And  when  it  went  up  I  was  pleased  that  it  went  to  its  place 
by  the  strength  of  my  own  feeble  arm,  when,  according  to  the 
arrangement,  the  cord  was  pulled,  and  it  floated  gloriously  to 
the  wind,  without  an  accident,  in  the  light,  glowing  sunshine 
of  the  morning.  I  could  not  help  hoping  that  there  was,  in  the 
entire  success  of  that  beautiful  ceremony,  at  least  something  of 
an  omen  of  what  is  to  come.  [Loud  applause.]  How  could  I 
help  feeling  then  as  I  often  have  felt  ?  In  the  whole  of  that 
proceeding  I  was  a  very  humble  instrument.  I  had  not  pro 
vided  the  flag ;  I  had  not  made  the  arrangements  for  elevating 
it  to  its  place ;  I  had  applied  but  a  very  small  portion  of  my 
feeble  strength  in  raising  it.  In  the  whole  transaction  I  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  people  who  had  arranged  it,  and  if  I  can 
have  the  same  generous  co-operation  of  the  people  of  the 
nation,  I  think  the  flag  of  our  country  may  yet  be  kept  flaunt 
ing  gloriously.  [Loud,  enthusiastic,  and  continued  cheers.]  I 
recur  for  a  moment  but  to  repeat  some  words  uttered  at  the 
hotel,  in  regard  to  what  has  been  said  about  the  military  sup 
port  which  the  General  Government  may  expect  from  the 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  a  proper  emergency.  To 
guard  against  any  possible  mistake  do  I  recur  to  this.  It  is 
not  with  any  pleasure  that  I  contemplate  the  possibility  that  a 
necessity  may  arise  in  this  country  for  the  use  of  the  military 
arm.  [Applause.]  While  I  am  exceedingly  gratified  to  see  the 
manifestation  upon  your  streets  of  your  military  force  here 
and  exceedingly  gratified  at  your  promises  here  to  use  that 
force  upon  a  proper  emergency — while  I  make  these  acknowl 
edgments,  I  desire  to  repeat,  in  order  to  preclude  any  possible 
misconstruction,  that  I  do  most  sincerely  hope  that  we  shall 
have  no  use  for  them.  [Applause.]  That  it  will  never  become 


228  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN". 

their  duty  to  shed  blood,  and  most  especially  never  to  shed 
fraternal  blood.  I  promise  that,  so  far  as  I  may  have  wisdom 
to  direct,  if  so  painful  a  result  shall  in  anywise  be  brought 
about,  it  shall  be  through  no  fault  of  mine.  [Cheers.]  Allu 
sion  has  also  been  made  by  one  of  your  honored  speaker^  to 
some  remarks  recently  made  by  myself  at  Pittsburg,  in  regard 
to  what  is  supposed  to  be  the  especial  interest  of  this  great 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania.  I  now  wish  only  to  say,  in 
regard  to  that  matter,  that  the  few  remarks  which  I  uttered  on 
that  occasion  were  rather  carefully  worded.  I  took  pains  that 
they  should  be  so.  I  have  seen  no  occasion  since  to  add  to  them, 
or  subtract  from  them.  I  leave  them  precisely  as  they  stand 
[applause],  adding  only  now  that  I  am  pleased  to  have  an  ex 
pression  from  you,  gentlemen  of  Pennsylvania,  significant  that 
they  are  satisfactory  to  you.  And  now,  gentlemen  of  the  Gen 
eral  Assembly  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  allow 
me  to  return  you  again  my  most  sincere  thanks." 

After  the  delivery  of  this  address,  Mr.  Lincoln  devoted 
some  hours  to  the  reception  of  visitors,  and  at  six  o'clock 
retired  to  his  room. 

The  next  morning  the  whole  country  was  fairly  elec 
trified  by  the  announcement  that  he  had  arrived  in 
Washington — ^twelve  hours  sooner  than  he  had  origin 
ally  intended.  His  sudden  departure,  however,  proved 
to  have  been  a  measure  of  precaution  for  which  events 
subsequently  disclosed  afforded  a  full  justification.  For 
some  time  previous  to  his  departure  from  home,  threats 
had  been  current  that  he  would  never  live  to  be  in 
augurated;  and  during  his  journey,  an  attempt  was 
made  on  the  Toledo  and  Western  Railroad,  on  the  llth 
of  February,  to  throw  from  the  track  the  train  on 
which  he  was  journeying,  and  a  hand  grenade  was 
found  secreted  on  the  train  in  which  he  left  Cincinnati. 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO  WASHINGTON.  229 

These  and  other  circumstances  led  to  an  organized  and 
thorough  investigation,  under  the  direction  of  a  police 
detective,  carried  on  with  great  skill  and  perseverance 
at  Baltimore,  and  which  resulted  in  disclosing  the  fact 
that  a  small  gang  of  assassins  had  arranged  to  take  his 
life  during  his  passage  through  that  city.  General 
Scott  and  Mr.  Seward,  having  both  been  apprised  of  the 
same  fact  through  another  source,  sent  Mr.  F.  W. 
Seward  as  a  special  messenger  to  Philadelphia,  to  meet 
the  President-elect  there,  previous  to  his  departure 
for  Harrisburg,  to  give  him  notice  of  these  circum 
stances.  Mr.  Lincoln,  however,  did  not  deviate  from 
the  programme  he  had  marked  out  for  himself,  in  con 
sequence  of  these  communications ;  except  that,  by  the 
advice  of  friends,  he  anticipated  by  one  train  the  time 
he  was  expected  to  arrive  in  Washington.  He  reached 
there  on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  the  23d. 

The  general  scorn  and  laughter  with  which  this 
transit  was  greeted  by  rebel  sympathizers,  and  by  the 
enemies  of  the  incoming  Administration,  were  more 
pretended  than  real.  That  it  was  a  cloak  to  cover 
their  disappointment,  was  rendered  more  probable  by 
the  fact  that,  from  that  time,  it  became  their  standing 
threat  that  the  President-elect  should  never  live  to 
be  inaugurated. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  sudden  advent  took  all  by  surprise. 
Preparations  on  a  large  scale  had  been  made  for  his 
reception;  the  addresses  of  congratulation  had  been 
prepared;  the  military  expected  to  act  as  his  escort,  the 
two  Houses  of  Congress  were  to  have  an  early  adjourn 
ment,  and  the  "  coming  man"  was  the  absorbing  topic 
of  general  remark.  But  all  these  preconcerted  arrange- 


230  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ments   were    frustrated,    by   his   unexpected   and   un 
heralded  arrival  in  their  midst. 

"  When  it  became  known  that  he  was  in  the  city,  his 
hotel  was  thronged — all  anxious  for  a  word  with  him 
who  was  to  direct  the  destiny  of  the  Republic  for  good 
or  evil.  But  he  remained  inaccessible  to  all  visitors. 
At  eleven  o'clock,  in  company  with  Mr.  Seward,  he 
called  upon  Mr.  Buchanan.  The  surprise  of  the  occu 
pant  of  the  White  House  was  great;  but,  he  gave 
his  successor  a  very  cordial  greeting.  The  Cabinet 
being  in  session,  Mr.  Lincoln  passed  into  its  chamber,  to 
the  astonishment  and  delight  of  its  members.  A  call 
was  made  upon  General  Scott,  but  the  veteran  was  not 
on  duty.  Thus,  dispensing  with  all  official  formality, 
the  Republican  President  set  a  good  example  of  repub 
lican  simplicity  of  manners  and  kindness. 

"  During  the  remainder  of  the  day  he  received 
visitors  freely.  All  partisan  feeling  seemed  to  be  for 
gotten,  and  Democrats  vied  with  Republicans  in  their 
really  genial  welcome.  Only  the  extreme  southern  men 
stood  aloof;  they  had  no  word  of  felicitation  for  the 
man  who,*'  it  was  felt,  would  rule  without  fear,  and 
prove  faithful  to  his  oath  to  '  sustain  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws.' 

"  In  the  evening,  by  appointment,  Mr.  Lincoln  re 
ceived  the  '  Peace  Congress'  members.  The  entire  body 
was  presented  to  him,  and  a  cordial  hour  passed  in 
an  informal  greeting.  After  the  interview,  the  Presi 
dent  was  called  upon  to  confront  the  ladies  of  Washing 
ton,  who  had  congregated  in  the  parlors  of  the  hotel,  to 
be  introduced  to  a  man  of  wliose  ugliness  of  feature 
and  ungainliness  of  form  they  had  heard  so  much, 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO  WASHINGTON.  231 

Mr.  Lincoln  received  them  in  a  manner  at  once  graceful 
and  possessed.  This  closed  his  first  day  at  the  capital. 
Thereafter  he  was  to  enter  upon  the  thorny  field  of 
administration.  A  Cabinet  was  to  be  chosen,  Ministers 
to  be  selected,  a  settled  policy  to  be  drawn  out  of 
that  fearful  distraction.  The  brief  interval  of  ten  days 
prior  to  his  inauguration,  was  to  be  the  most  trying  of 
his  experience;  for  the  claims  of  persons  to  posts 
of  honor — the  rights  of  sections — the  harmonization  of 
conflicting  interests — the  disposition  of  places  demand 
ing  a  peculiar  fitness — all  were  among  those  minor 
annoyances  of  administration  which  rendered  the  yoke 
any  thing  but  easy  to  bear." 

On  Wednesday,  the  27th,  the  Mayor  and  Common 
Council  of  the  city,  waited  upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  and 
tendered  him  a  welcome.  He  replied  to  them  as 
follows  : 

"  MR.  MAYOR  : — I  thank  you,  and  through  you  the  municipal 
authorities  of  this  city  who  accompany  you,  for  this  welcome. 
And  as  it  is  the  first  time  in  my  life  since  the  present  phase  of 
politics  has  presented  itself  in  this  country,  that  I  have  said 
any  thing  publicly  within  a  region  of  country  where  the 
institution  of  slavery  exists,  I  will  take  this  occasion  to  say, 
that  I  think  very  much  of  the  ill-feeling  that  has  existed  and 
still  exists,  between  the  people  in  the  sections  from  which 
I  came,  and  the  people  here,  is  dependent  upon  a  misunder 
standing  of  one  another.  I  therefore  avail  myself  of  this 
opportunity  to  assure  you,  Mr.  Mayor,  and  all  the  gentlemen 
present,  that  I  have  not  now,  and  never  have  had,  any  other 
than  as  kindly  feelings  towards  you  as  the  people  of  my  own 
section.  I  have  not  now,  and  never  have  had,  any  disposition 
to  treat  you  in  any  respect  otherwise  than  as  my  own  neighbors. 
I  have  not  now  any  purpose  to  withhold  from  you  any  of  the 


232  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

f 

benefits  of  the  Constitution,  under  any  circumstances,  that 
I  would  not  feel  myself  constrained  to  withhold  from  my  own 
neighbors ;  and  I  hope,  in  a  word,  that  when  we  shall  become 
better  acquainted,  and  I  say  it  with  great  confidence,  we  shall 
like  each  other  the  more.  I  thank  you  for  the  kindness  of  this 
reception." 

On  the  following  evening  the  Kepublican  Association 
tendered  him  a  delightful  serenade,  at  the  conclusion  of 
which,  he  made  the  following  remarks  to  the  assembled 
crowd : 

"  MY  FRIENDS  : — I  suppose  that  I  may  take  this  as  a  compli 
ment  paid  to  me,  and  as  such,  please  accept  my  thanks  for  it. 
I  have  reached  this  city  of  Washington  under  circumstances 
considerably  differing  from  those  under  which  any  other  man 
has  ever  reached  it.  I  am  here  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
an  official  position  amongst  the  people,  almost  all  of  whom 
were  politically  opposed  to  me,  and  are  yet  opposed  to  me  as  I 
suppose.  I  propose  no  lengthy  address  to  you.  I  only  propose 
to  say,  as  I  did  on  yesterday,  when  your  worthy  Mayor  and 
Board  of  Aldermen  called  upon  me,  that  I  thought  much  of 
the  ill-feeling  that  has  existed  between  you  and  the  people  of 
your  surroundings,  and  that  people  from  amongst  whom  I 
came,  has  depended,  and  now  depends,  upon  a  misunderstand 
ing. 

"I  hope  that,  if  things  shall  go  along  as  prosperously  as  1 
believe  we  all  desire  they  may,  I  may  have  it  in  my  power  to 
remove  something  of  this  misunderstanding  •  that  I  may  be  enabled 
to  convince  you,  and  the  people  of  your  section  of  the  country,  that 
we  regard  you  as  in  all  things  our  equals,  and  in  all  things  entitled 
to  the  same  respect  and  the  same  treatment  that  we  claim  for  our 
selves  ;  that  we  are  in  nowise  disposed,  if  it  were  in  our  power,  to 
oppress  you,  to  deprive  you  of  any  of  your  rights  under  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  or  even  narrowly  to  split  hairs  with 
you  in  regard  to  those  rights,  but  are  determined  to  give  you,  as  far 


INAUGURAL   TOUR   TO   WASHINGTON.  233 

as  lies  in  our  hands,  all  your  rights  under  the  Constitution — not 
grudgingly,  "but  fully  and  fairly.  I  hope  that,  by  thus  dealing 
with  you,  we  will  become  better  acquainted,  and  be  better 
friends.  And  now,  my  friends,  with  these  few  remarks,  and 
again  returning  my  thanks  for  this  compliment,  and  expressing 
my  desire  to  hear  a  little  more  of  your  good  music,  I  bid  you 
good  night." 

This  was  the  latest  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  public  utterances 
previous  to  his  inauguration. 


234  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM   THE   INAUGURATION   TO   THE   EXTRA  SESSION   OF   CON 
GRESS,   JULY  4,   1861. 

The  Inaugural  Address. — Mr.  Lincoln's  first  Cabinet. — Changes  in  the 
Departments. — Difficulties  which  surrounded  the  new  Administration. — 
The  attack  on  Fort  Sumter. — Its  effect,  North  and  South. — The  Presi 
dent's  Proclamation. — The  Northern  States  rally  to  the  aid  of  the 
Government. — The  troubles  at  Baltimore. — Mr.  Lincoln's  answer  to 
the  Committee  of  the  Virginia  Convention. — Preparations  for  War. — 
Foreign  policy  of  the  Administration. 

ON  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  the 
oath  and  assumed  the  duties  of  the  Presidential  office — 
duties  which  he  had  rightly  characterized,  on  the  eve  of 
his  departure  from  his  home  at  Springfield,  as  "  greater 
than  had  devolved  upon  any  other  man  since  the  days 
of  Washington."  The  conspiracy,  which  for  thirty 
years  had  been  sapping  the  virtue,  and  weakening  the 
strength  of  the  Eepublic,  was  now  ready  to  throw  off 
the  mask,  and  to  astonish  the  incredulous  people  of  the 
North,  and  of  the  world,  with  the  full  development  of 
a  treason,  such,  as  for  extent,  perfidy,  and  malignity, 
has  never  before  been  equalled  in  history. 

The  administration-  of  James  Buchanan,  with  its  in 
tensely  southern  sway  in  all  branches  of  the  National  Go 
vernment,  was  now  at  an  end.  During  the  four  months 
that  had  intervened  since  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
not  a  moment  had  been  lost  by  the  leaders  of  the  now 
clearly  developed  scheme  of  revolt;  in  making  energetic 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  235 

preparation  for  its  consummation.  So  well  had  they 
succeeded,  by  the  aid  of  bold  treason  or  of  inert  com 
plicity  at  the  national  capital,  that  they  felt  assured  of 
the  full  attainment  of  their  object,  almost  without  the 
hazard  of  a  single  campaign.  While  professing,  how 
ever,  to  believe  in  the  right  of  peaceable  secession,  and 
proclaiming  their  desire  to  be  left  unmolested  in  the 
execution  of  their  revolutionary  purposes,  the  chief 
conspirators  were  well  aware  that  this  immunity  could 
only  be  gained  by  such  use  of  the  remaining  days  of 
the  outgoing  administration  that  the  crisis  should 
already  be  passed,  or  resistance  to  their  treason  be 
utterly  ineffectual,  when  the  new  administration  should 
begin.  While  industriously  collecting  the  materials  of 
war,  they  yet  spared  no  efforts  to  bring  about  such 
a  state  of  things  as  should  insure  either  peaceful  sub 
mission  to  their  will,  or  a  sure  vantage  ground  for 
an  appeal  to  arms. 

In  spite,  however,  of  all  that  had  been  done  by  the 
arch-conspirators,  to  "  fire  the  Southern  heart,"  to  the 
support  of  the  proposed  rebellion,  "the  people  of  the 
slave-holding  States  were  by  no  means  a  unit  in  its 
support.  Seven  of  those  States,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  Texas,  Florida,  and  Louisiana, 
had  passed  secession  ordinances  and  united  in  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  hostile  Confederacy ;  but  in  nearly  all  of 
them  a  considerable  portion  of  the  people  were  opposed 
to  the  movement,  while  in  all  the  remaining  slavehold- 
ing  States  a  very  active  canvass  was  carried  on  between 
the  friends  and  the  opponents  of  sece^ion.  In  Mary 
land,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee  especially,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  was  vindicated,  and  its 


236  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

authority  sustained  by  men  of  pre-eminent  ability  and 
of  commanding  reputation,  and  there  seemed  abundant 
reason  for  hoping  that,  by  the  adoption  of  prudent 
measures,  the  slaveholding  section  might  be  divided, 
and  the  Border  Slave  States  retained  in  the  Union. 
The  authorities  of  the  rebel  Confederacy  saw  the  import 
ance  of  pushing  the  issue  to  an  instant  decision.  Under 
their  directions  nearly  all  the  forts,  arsenals,  dock-yards, 
custom-houses,  etc.,  belonging  to  the  United  States, 
within  the  limits  of  the  seceded  States,  had  been  seized 
and  were  held  by  representatives  of  the  rebel  govern 
ment.  The  only  forts  in  the  South  which  remained  in 
possession  of  the  Union,  were  Forts  Pickens,  Taylor, 
and  Jefferson,  on  the  Florida  coast,  and  Fort  Sumter  in 
Charleston  harbor,  and  preparations  were  far  advanced 
for  the  reduction  and  capture  of  these.  Officers  of  the 
army  and  navy  from  the  South  had  resigned  their  com 
missions,  and  entered  the  rebel  service.  Civil  officers 
representing  the  United  States  within  the  limits  of  the 
southern  States,  could  no  longer  discharge  their  func 
tions,  and  all  the  powers  of  that  Government  were 
practically  paralyzed." 

Such  were  the  circumstances,  then,  under  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office.  It  was 
his  difficult  task  to  withhold  the  Border  States  from 
joining  the  new  Confederacy;  to  allay  the  irritation 
everywhere  observable  throughout  both  North  and 
South;  to  rally  the  loyal  sentiment  of  both  sections, 
if  it  were  possible,  around  himself,  as  preliminary  to  the 
great  work  of  restoring  the  national  authority  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 

The  day  of  his  inauguration  was  a  beautiful  one,  and 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  237 

despite  the  threats,  so  constantly  reiterated  for  months 
past,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  never  be  permitted  to 
occupy  the  Presidential  chair,  and  desperate  as  had 
been  the  plottings  against  his  life,  he  appeared  at 
the  east  portico  of  the  capitol,  and  received,  at  the 
appointed  time,  the  oath  from  the  venerable  Chief 
Justice  Taney.  He  then  delivered  the  following: 

INAUGURAL   ADDRESS. 

"  FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  : — In  compliance 
with  a  custom  as  old  as  the  government  itself,  I  appear  before 
you,  to  address  you  briefly,  and  to  take,  in  your  presence,  the 
oath  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  be 
taken  by  the  President  before  he  enters  on  the  execution  of  his 
office. 

"  I  do  not  consider  it  necessary,  at  present,  for  me  to  discuss 
those  matters  of  administration  about  which  there  is  no  special 
anxiety  or  excitement.  Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among 
the  people  of  the  southern  States,  that^  by  the  accession  of  a 
Eepublican  administration,  their  property  and  their  peace,  and 
personal  security,  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never  been 
any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most 
ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed,  and 
been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the 
published  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but 
quote  from  one  of  those  speeches,  when  I  declare  that  '  I  have 
no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists.'  I  believe  I  have 
no  lawful  right  to  do  so ;  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so. 
Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me,  did  so  with  the  full 
knowledge  that  I  had  made  this  and  made  many  similar  declara 
tions,  and  had  never  recanted  them.  And.  more  than  this,  they 
placed  in  the  platform,  for  my  acceptance,  and  as  a  law  to  them 
selves  and  to  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic  resolution  which  I 
now  read : 


238  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

"  'Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of 
the  States,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and 
control  its  own  domestic  institutions,  according  to  its  own 
judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power  on 
which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric  de 
pend  ;  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion,  by  armed  force, 
of  the  soil  of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what 
pretext,  as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes.' 

"  I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments ;  and  in  doing  so  I  only 
press  upon  the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive  evidence 
of  which  the  case  is  susceptible,  that  the  property,  peace,  and 
security  of  no  section  are  to  be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the 
now  incoming  administration. 

"I  add,  too,  that  all  the  protection  which,  consistently  with 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  can  be  given,  will  be  cheerfully 
given  to  all  the  States  when  lawfully  demanded,  for  whatever 
cause,  as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as  to  another. 

"  There  is  much  controversy  about  the  delivering  up  of 
fugitives  from  service  or  labor.  The  clause  I  now  read  is 
as  plainly  written  in  the  Constitution  as  any  other  of  its 
provisions : 

'"~No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State  under  the 
laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of 
any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service 
or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to 
whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due.' 

"  It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this  provision  was  intended 
by  those  who  made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what  we  call  fugi 
tive  slaves ;  and  the  intention  of  the  lawgiver  is  the  law. 

"All  members  of  Congress  swear  their  support  to  the  whole 
Constitution — to  this  provision  as  well  as  any  other.  To  the 
proposition,  then,  that  slaves  whose  cases  come  within  the  terms 
of  this  clause  '  shall  be  delivered  up,'  their  oaths  are  unanimous. 
Now,  if  they  would  make  the  effort  in  good  temper,  could  they 
not,  with  nearly  equal  unanimity,  frame  and  pass  a  law  by 
means  of  which  to  keep  good  that  unanimous  oath  ? 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  239 

'  There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  whether  this  clause 
should  be  enforced  by  national  or  by  State  authority ;  but 
surely  that  difference  is  not  a  very  material  one.  If  the  slave 
is  to  be  surrendered,  it  can  be  of  but  little  consequence  to  him 
or  to  others  by  which  authority  it  is  done ;  and  should  any 
one,  in  any  case,  be  content  that  this  oath  shall  go  unkept  on 
a  merely  unsubstantial  controversy  as  to  how  it  shall  be  kept  ? 

"Again,  in  any  law  upon  this  subject,  ought  not  all  the  safe 
guards  of  liberty  known  in  the  civilized  and  humane  jurispru 
dence  to  be  introduced,  so  that  a  free  man  be  not  in  any  case 
surrendered  as  a  slave  ?  And  might  it  not  be  well  at  the  same 
time  to  provide  by  law  for  the  enforcement  of  that  clause  in 
the  Constitution  which  guarantees  that  'the  citizens  of  each' 
State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
citizens  in  the  several  States  ?' 

"  I  take  the  official  oath  to-day  with  no  mental  reservations, 
and  with  no  purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution  or  laws  by 
any  hypocritical  rules ;  and  while  I  do  not  choose  now  to  specify 
particular  acts  of  Congress  as  proper  to  be  enforced,  I  do  sug 
gest  that  it  will  be  much  safer  for  all,  both  in  official  and  private 
stations,  to  conform  to  and  abide  by  all  those  acts  which  stand 
unrepealed,  than  to  violate  any  of  them,  trusting  to  find  im 
punity  in  having  them  held  to  be  unconstitutional. 

"It  is  seventy -two  years  since  the  first  inauguration  of  a 
President  under  our  national  Constitution.  During  that  period 
fifteen  different  and  very  distinguished  citizens  have  in  succes 
sion  administered  the  executive  branch  of  the  government. 
They  have  conducted  it  through  many  perils,  and  generally 
with  great  success.  Yet,  with  all  this  scope  for  precedent,  I 
now  enter  upon  the  same  task,  for  the  brief  constitutional  term 
of  four  years,  under  great  and  peculiar  difficulties. 

"A  disruption  of  the  Federal  Union,  heretofore  only  men 
aced,  is  now  formidably  attempted.  I  hold  that  in  the  contem 
plation  of  universal  law  and  of  the  Constitution,  the  Union  of 
these  States  is  perpetual.  Perpetuity  is  implied,  if  not  ex- 


240  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCQLN. 

pressed,  in  the  fundamental  law  of  all  national  governments. 
It  is  safe  to  assert  that  no  government  proper  ever  had  a  pro 
vision  in  its  organic  law  for  its  own  termination.  Continue  to 
execute  all  the  express  provisions  of  our  national  Constitution, 
and  the  Union  will  endure  forever,  it  being  impossible  to  de 
stroy  it;  except  by  some  action  not  provided  for  in  the  instru 
ment  itself. 

"Again,  if  the  United  States  be  not  a  government  proper, 
but  an  association  of  States  in  the  nature  of  a  contract  merely, 
can  it,  as  a  contract,  be  peaceably  unmade  by  less  than  all  the 
parties  who  made  it  ?  One  party  to  a  contract  may  violate  it 
— break  it,  so  to  speak — but  does  it  not  require  all  to  lawfully 
rescind  it  ?  Descending  from  these  general  principles,  we  find 
the  proposition  that  in  legal  contemplation  the  Union  is  per 
petual,  confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  Union  itself. 

"  The  Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution.  It  was 
formed,  in  fact,  by  the  Articles  of  Association  in  1774.  It  was 
matured  and  continued  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
1776.  It  was  further  matured,  and  the  faith  of  all  the  then 
thirteen  States  expressly  plighted  and  engaged  that  it  should 
be  perpetual,  by  the  Articles  of  the  Confederation,  in  1778 ; 
and,  finally,  in  1787,  one  of  the  declared  objects  for  ordaining 
and  establishing  the  Constitution,  was  to  form  a  more  perfect 
Union.  But  if  the  destruction  of  the  Union  by  one  or  by  a 
part  only  of  the  States  be  lawfully  possible,  the  Union  is  less 
than  before,  the  Constitution  having  lost  the  vital  element  of 
perpetuity. 

"  It  follows,  from  these  views,  that  no  State,  upon  its  own 
mere  motion,  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union ;  that  resolves 
and  ordinances  to  that  effect  are  legally  void ;  and  that  acts  of 
violence  within  any  State  or  States  against  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  are  insurrectionary  or  revolutionary,  according 
to  circumstances. 

"I  therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken ;  and,  to  the  extent  of  my 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  241 

ability,  I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly 
enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  shall  be  faithfully 
executed  in  all  the  States.  Doing  this,  which  I  deem  to  be  only  a 
simple  duty  on  my  part,  I  shall  perfectly  perform  it,  so  far  as 
is  practicable,  unless  my  rightful  masters,  the  American  people, 
shall  withhold  the  requisition,  or  in  some  authoritative  manner 
direct  the  contrary. 

"  I  trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only  as 
the  declared  purpose  of  the  Union,  that  it  will  constitutionally 
defend  and  maintain  itself. 

"  In  doing  this  there  need  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence,  and 
there  shall  be  none  unless  it  is  forced  upon  the  national  au 
thority. 

"  The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and 
possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  government,  and 
collect  the  duties  and  imposts ;  but  beyond  what  may  be  neces 
sary  for  these  objects,  there  will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of 
force  against  or  among  the  people  any  where. 

"  Where  hostility  to  the  United  States  shall  be  so  great  and 
so  universal  as  to  prevent  competent  resident  citizens  from 
holding  the  Federal  offices,  there  will  be  no  attempt  to  force 
obnoxious  strangers  among  the  people  that  object.  While  the 
strict  legal  right  may  exist  of  the  government  to  enforce  the 
exercise  of  these  offices,  the  attempt  to  do  so  would  be  so  irri 
tating,  and  so  nearly  impracticable  withal,  that  I  deem  it  better 
to  forego,  for  the  time,  the  uses  of  such  offices. 

"  The  mails,  unless  repelled,  will  continue  to  be  furbished  in 
all  parts  of  the  Union. 

"  So  far  as  possible,  the  people  everywhere  shall  have  that 
sense  of  perfect  security  which  is  most  favorable  to  calm 
thought  and  reflection. 

"  The  course  here  indicated  will  be  followed,  unless  current 

events  and  experience  shall  show  a  modification  or  change  to 

be  proper ;  and  in  every  case  and  exigency  my  best  discretion 

will   be   exercised    according   to   the   circumstances   actually 

16 


242  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

existing,  and  with  a  view  and  hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  of 
the  national  troubles,  and  the  restoration  of  fraternal  sympathies 
and  affections. 

"That  there  are  persons,  in  one  section  or  another,  who  seek 
to  destroy  the  Union  at  all  events,  and  are  glad  of  any  pretext 
to  do  it,  I  will  neither  affirm  nor  deny.  But  if  there  be  such, 
I  need  address  no  word  to  them. 

"  To  those,  however,  who  really  love  the  Union,  may  I  not 
speak,  before  entering  upon  so  grave  a  matter  as  the  destruc 
tion  of  our  national  fabric,  with  all  its  benefits,  its  memories, 
and  its  hopes  ?  Would  it  not  be  well  to  ascertain  why  we  do 
it?  Will  you  hazard  so  desperate  a  step,  while  any  portion 
of  the  certain  ills  you  fly  from  have  no  real  existence  ?  Will  you, 
while  the  certain  ills  you  fly 'to  are  greater  than  all  the  real 
ones  you  fly  from  ?  Will  you  risk  the  commission  of  so  fearful 
a  mistake  ?  All  profess  to  be  content  in  the  Union  if  all  con 
stitutional  rights  can  be  maintained.  Is  it  true  then,  that  any 
right,  plainly  written  in  the  Constitution,  has  been  denied  ?  I 
think  not.  Happily  the  human  mind  is  so  constituted,  that  no 
party  can  reach  to  the  audacity  of  doing  this. 

"  Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single  instance  in  which  a  plainly- 
written  provision  of  the  Constitution  has  ever  been  denied.  If, 
by  the  mere  force  of  numbers,  a  majority  should  deprive  a 
minority  of  any  clearly -written  constitutional  right,  it  might,  in 
a  moral  point  of  view,  justify  revolution  ;  it  certainly  would,  if 
such  right  were  a  vital  one.  But  such  is  not  our  case. 

"All  the  vital  rights  of  minorities  and  of  individuals  are  so 
plainly  assured  to  them  by  affirmations  and  negations,  guaran 
tees  and  prohibitions  in  the  Constitution,  that  controversies 
never  arise  concerning  them.  But  no  organic  law  can  ever  be 
framed  with  a  provision  specifically  applicable  to  every  question 
which  may  occur  in  practical  administration.  No  foresight 
can  anticipate,  nor  any  document  of  reasonable  length  contain 
express  provisions  for  all  possible  questions.  Shall  fugitives 
from  labor  be  surrendered  bv  national  or  by  State  authorities? 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  243 

The  Constitution  does  not  expressly  say.  Must  Congress  pro 
tect  slavery  in  the  Territories?  The  Constitution  does  not 
expressly  say.  From  questions  of  this  class  spring  all  our 
constitutional  controversies,  and  we  divide  upon  them  into 
majorities  and  minorities. 

"  If  the  minority  will  not  acquiesce,  the  majority  must,  or  the 
government  must  cease.  There  is  no  alternative  for  continuing 
the  government  but  acquiescence  on  the  one  side  or  the  other. 
If  a  minority  in  such  a  case  will  secede  rather  than  acquiesce, 
they  make  a  precedent  which,  in  turn,  will  ruin  and  divide 
them,  for  a  minority  of  their  own  will  secede  from  them  when 
ever  a  majority  refuses  to  be  controlled  by  such  a  minority. 
For  instance,  why  not  any  portion  of  a  new  confederacy,  a  year 
or  two  hence,  arbitrarily  secede  again,  precisely  as  portions  of 
the  present  Union  now  claim  to  secede  from  it?  All  who 
cherish  disunion  sentiments  are  now  being  educated  to  the 
exact  temper  of  doing  this.  Is  there  such  perfect  identity  of 
interests  among  the  States  to  compose  a  new  Union  as  to  pro 
duce  harmony  only,  and  prevent  renewed  secession  ?  Plainly, 
the  central  idea  of  secession  is  the  essence  of  anarchy. 

"A  majority  held  in  restraint  by  constitutional  check  arid 
limitation,  and  always  changing  easily  with  deliberate  changes 
of  popular  opinions  and  sentiments,  is  the  only  true  sovereign 
of  a  free  people.  Whoever  rejects  it,  does,  of  necessity,  fly  to 
anarchy  or  to  despotism.  Unanimity  is  impossible ;  the  rule 
of  a  majority,  as  a  permanent  arrangement,  is  wholly  inad 
missible.  So  that,  rejecting  the  majority  principle,  anarchy  or 
despotism,  in  some  form,  is  all  that  is  left. 

"I  do  not  forget  the  position  assumed  by  some,  that  constitu 
tional  questions  are  to  be  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court,  nor 
do  I  deny  that  such  decisions  must  be  binding  in  any  case  upon 
the  parties  to  a  suit,  as  to  the  object  of  that  suit,  while  they  are 
also  entitled  to  a  very  high  respect  and  consideration  in  all 
parallel  cases  by  all  other  departments  of  the  government;  and 
while  it  is  obviously  possible  that  such  decision  may  be 


244  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

erroneous  in  any  given  case,  still  the  evil  effect  following  it, 
being  limited  to  that  particular  case,  with  the  chance  that  it 
may  be  overruled  and  never  become  a  precedent  for  other 
cases,  can  better  be  borne  than  could  the  evils  of  a  different 
practice. 

"At  the  same  time  the  candid  citizen  must  confess  that  if  the 
policy  of  the  government  upon  the  vital  questions  affecting  the 
whole  people  is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed  by  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  the  instant  they  are  made,  as  in  ordinary  liti 
gation  between  parties  in  personal  actions,  the  people  will  have 
ceased  to  be  their  own  masters,  unless  having  to  that  extent 
practically  resigned  their  government  into  the  hands  of  that 
eminent  tribunal. 

"  Nor  is  there  in  this  view  any  assault  upon  the  court  or  the 
Judges,  It  is  a  duty  from  which  they  may  not  shrink,  to 
decide  cases  properly  brought  before  them ;  and  it  is  no  fault 
of  theirs  if  others  seek  to  turn  their  decisions  to  political  pur 
poses.  One  section  of  our  country  believes 'slavery  is  right  and 
ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other  believes  it  is  wrong  and 
ought  not  to  be  extended ;  and  this  is  the  only  substantial  dis 
pute  ;  and  the  fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
law  for  the  suppression  of  the  foreign  slave  trade,  are  each  as 
well  enforced,  perhaps,  as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community 
where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  imperfectly  supports  the 
law  itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the  dry 
legal  obligation  in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over  in  each. 
This,  I  think,  cannot  be  perfectly  cured,  and  it  would  be  worse 
in  both  cases  after  the  separation  of  the  sections  than  before. 
The  foreign  slave  trade,  now  imperfectly  suppressed,  would  be 
ultimately  revived,  without  restriction,  in  one  section ;  while 
fugitive  slaves,  now  only  partially  surrendered,  would  not  be 
surrendered  at  all  by  the  other. 

"  Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  separate ;  we  cannot  remove 
our  respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impassable 
wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced,- 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  245 

and  go  out  of  tlie  presence  and  beyond  the  reach  of  each  other, 
but  the  different  parts  of  our  country  cannot  do  this.  They 
cannot  but  remain  face  to  face ;  and  intercourse,  either  amicable 
or  hostile,  must  continue  between  them.  Is  it  possible,  then,  to 
make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or  more  satisfactory 
after  separation  than  before  ?  Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier 
than  friends  can  make  laws  ?  Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully 
enforced  between  aliens  than  laws  can  among  friends  ?  Sup 
pose  you  go  to  war,  you  cannot  fight  always ;  and  when,  after 
much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on  either,  you  cease 
fighting,  the  identical  questions  as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are 
again  upon  you. 

"  This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  people 
who  inhabit  it.  Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary  of  the  existing 
government,  they  can  exercise  their  constitutional  right  of 
amending,  or  their  revolutionary  right  to  dismember  or  over 
throw  it.  I  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  many  worthy 
and  patriotic  citizens  are  desirous  of  having  the  national  Con 
stitution  amended.  While  I  make  no  recommendation  of 
amendment,  I  fully  recognize  the  full  authority  of  the  people 
over  the  whole  subject,  to  be  exercised  in  either  of  the  modes 
prescribed  in  the  instrument  itself,  and  I  should,  under  exist 
ing  circumstances,  favor,  rather  than  oppose  a  fair  opportunity 
being  afforded  the  people  to  act  upon  it. 

"I  will  venture  to  add,  that  to  me  the  convention  mode 
seems  preferable,  in  that  it  allows  amendments  to  originate 
with  the  people  themselves,  instead  of  only  permitting  them  to 
take  or  reject  propositions  originated  by  others  not  especially 
chosen  for  the  purpose,  and  which  might  not  be  precisely 
such  as  they  would  wish  either  to  accept  or  refuse.  I  under 
stand  that  a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  (which 
amendment,  however,  I  have  not  seen)  has  passed  Congress,  to 
the  effect  that  the  Federal  Government  shall  never  interfere 
with  the  domestic  institutions  of  States,  including  that  of  per 
sons  held  to  service.  To  avoid  misconstruction  of  what  I  have 


246  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

said,  I  depart  from  my  purpose  not  to  speak  of  particular 
amendments,  so  far  as  to  say  that,  holding  such  a  provision  to 
now  be  implied  constitutional  law,  T  have  no  objection  to  its 
being  made  express  and  irrevocable. 

"The  Chief  Magistrate  derives  all  his  authority  from  the  people, 
•and  they  have  conferred  none  upon  him  to  fix  the  terms  for  the 
separation  of  the  States.  The  people  themselves,  also,  can  do  this 
if  they  choose,  but  the  Executive,  as  such,  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  His  duty  is  to  administer  the  present  government  as 
it  carno  to  his  hands,  and  to  transmit  it  unimpaired  by  him  to 
his  successor.  Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence 
in  the  ultimate  justice  of  the  people  ?  Is  there  any  better 
or  equal  hope  in  the  world?  In  our  present  differences,  is 
either  party  without  faith  of  being  in  the  right?  If  the 
Almighty  Ruler  of  nations,  with  his  eternal  truth  and  justice, 
be  on  your  side  of  the  North,  or  on  yours  of  the  South, 
that  truth  and  that  justice  will  surely  prevail  by  the  judgment 
of  this  great  tribunal,  the  American  people.  By  the  frame  of 
the  government  under  which  we  live,  this  same  people  have 
wisely  given  their  public  servants  but  little  power  for  mischief, 
and  have  with  equal  wisdom  provided  for  the  return  of  that 
little  to  their  own  hands  at  very  short  intervals.  While  the 
people  retain  their  virtue  and  vigilance,  no  administration,  by 
any  extreme  wickedness  or  folly,  can  very  seriously  injure  the 
government  in  the  short  space  of  four  years. 

"  My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well  upon 
this  whole  subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking  time. 

"If  there  be  an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you,  in  hot  haste,  to 
a  step  which  you  would  never  take  deliberately,  that  object 
will  be  frustrated  by  taking  time ;  but  no  good  object  can  be 
frustrated  by  it. 

"  Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatisfied,  still  have  the  old  Con 
stitution  unimpaired,  and  on  the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of 
your  own  framing  under  it ;  while  the  new  administration  will 
have  no  immediate  power,  if  it  would,  to  change  either. 


AFTEE   THE   INAUGURATION.  247 

"  If  it  were  admitted  that  you  who  are  dissatisfied  hold  the 
right  side  in  the  dispute,  there  is  still  no  single  reason  for  pre 
cipitate  action.  Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity,  and  a  firm 
reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet  forsaken  this  favored  land, 
are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the  best  way,  all  our  present 
difficulties. 

"  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not 
in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  govern 
ment  will  not  assail  you. 

"You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the 
aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  Heaven  to  destroy 
the  government;  while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one 
to  '  preserve,  protect,  and  defend'  it. 

"  I  am  loath  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We 
must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained 
it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection. 

"  The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle 
field  and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all 
over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union, 
when  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels 
of  our  nature." 

This  address  was  delivered  in  tones  distinctly  audible 
to  the  vast  throng  who  surrounded  the  President,  and, 
almost  before  the  echo  of  his  voice  had  faded  from  their 
hearing,  the  telegraph  and  the  printing  press  carried  it 
to  the  homes  and  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  in  other 
parts  of  the  Union.  To  the  people,  it  brought  the 
welcome  assurance  that  imbecility,  double-dealing  and 
treachery,  no  longer  held  sway  over  the  nation ;  that 
the  new  President  was  determined  to  maintain  the 
national  integrity ;  and  that,  while  faithful  to  his 
official  oath,  he  would  use  every  lawful  and  reasonable 
means  to  avert  the  evils  of  domestic  war.  He  had, 


248  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

indeed,  suggested  the  desirability  of  a  national  consti 
tutional  convention,  with  power  to  adjust  all  questions 
at  issue,  even  including  peaceable  separation,  in  a  law 
ful  manner,  by  a  change  of  the  organic  law ;  and,  while 
demonstrating  unanswerably  the  utter  causelessness  of 
war,  he  had  distinctly  placed  the  whole  responsibility 
of  its  commencement  upon  the  conspirators  themselves. 
He  laid  down  a  line  of  policy  which,  if  it  had  only 
been  met  in  a  corresponding  spirit  on  the  other  side, 
would  have  averted  disastrous  years  of  bloodshed.  In 
thus  announcing  his  views,  he  also  plainly  indicated, 
that  the  benefits  secured  by  the  Constitution  to  any 
portion  of  the  people  could  not  be  claimed  by  them 
while  trampling  that  instrument  under  foot,  and  as 
plainly  notified  the  malcontents  that  they  need  expect 
no  immunities,  under  the  assurances  given  on  this  or 
any  other  occasion,  inconsistent  with  the  changed  con 
dition  of  affairs,  if  they  should  madly  appeal  to  arms. 

The  whole  address,  while  breathing  an  earnest  yearn 
ing  for  an  honorable  peace,  did  not,  however,  like  the 
unfortunate  message  of  his  predecessor  of  the  previous 
December,  base  the  desire  on  a  confessed  helplessness 
of  the  government,  or  an  indisposition  to  exert  its 
power  of  self-preservation.  Men  felt  that  a  new  politi 
cal  era  had  dawned,  and  breathed  more  freely,  even  in 
the  face  of  the  dangers  which  encompassed  the  re 
public.  They  saw  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  carefully 
studied  the  situation  of  affairs,  and  that  he  was  pre 
pared  to  bring  all  the  powers  of  his  sterling  good  sense 
and  comprehensive  practical  judgment  to  the  mastery 
of  the  problem  to  be  solved  by  him  as  the  head  of  the 
nation.  They  fully  appreciated  the  rare  foresight  and 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  249 

skill  in  briefly  presenting  the  true  questions  at  issue, 
in  their  proper  bearings,  and  the  calm,  candid  appeal 
to  the  nation,  in  all  its  parts,  in  behalf  of  law,  order 
and  peace,  which  made  this  the  wisest  utterance  of  tlie 
time.  It  has  been  well  said  of  the  address,  that  "who 
ever  would  acquaint  himself  with  the  inmost  traits  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  character,  as  a  public  man,  and  at  the 
same  time  discover,  in  honest  and  plain  words,  a  state 
ment  in  advance  of  the  fundamental  principles  by  which 
his  administration  was  afterward  guided,  let  him  care 
fully  study  this  paper,  every  sentence  of  which  is  full 
of  meaning." 

But,  of  course,  in  the  southern  and  border  States 
there  were  thousands  of  scheming  minds  ready  to  mis 
construe  and  misrepresent  any  inaugural  address  which 
the  new  President  might  chance  to  present.  Every 
effort  was  therefore  made  to  spread  through  the  border 
States  the  idea  that  the  inaugural  was  intended  as  a 
covert  declaration  of  war  upon  the  southern  States ; 
and  many  of  these  efforts  were  more  or  less  successful 
in  the  accomplishment  of  their  object. 

The  first  act  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  of  course,  was  to  ap 
point  his  cabinet,  the  construction  of  which  had  been 
perhaps  substantially  settled  in  his  own  mind  before  he 
left  Illinois.  "  The  position  occupied  by  Mr.  Seward 
before  the  country,  was  such  as  to  leave  no  hesitation 
as  to  the  propriety  of  offering  him  the  highest  place  of 
honor  under  the  Executive,  as  Secretary  of  State.  This 
position,  was  at  an  early  day  placed  at  Mr.  Seward's 
disposal.  The  office  of  Attorney-General  was,  with  like 
promptitude,  tendered  to  Judge  Bates,  of  Missouri, 
whose  leading  position  as  a  southern  statesman  with 


250  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

anti-slavery  tendencies,  of  the  Clay  school,  had  caused 
his  name  to  be  prominently  and  widely  used  in  con 
nection  with  the  Presidency  before  the  nomination  for 
that  office,  made  at  Chicago.  Governor  Chase,  of  Ohio, 
who  had  recently  been  elected  to  a  second  term  in  the 
Senate,  after  four  years  of  useful  and  popular  service  in 
the  executive  chair  of  his  State,  perhaps  quite  as  early 
occurred  to  the  mind  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  man  specially 
fitted  to  manage  the  finances  of  the  nation  through  the 
troublous  times  that  were  felt  to  be  approaching,  This 
difficult  post  Mr.  Chase  surrendered  his  seat  in  the 
Senate  to  accept.  Mr.  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  se 
lected  as  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Welles,  of  Connecticut, 
as  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  Mr.  Montgomery  Blair,* 
of  Maryland,  as  Postmaster-General,  were  all  leading 
representatives  of  the  Democratic  element  of  the  party 
which  had  triumphed  in  the  late  election.  Mr.  Caleb  B. 
Smith,  of  "Indiana,  a  contemporary  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
Congress,  and  for  years  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
Whig  politicians  of  the  West,  was  tendered  the  place 
of  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  which  he  accepted." 

The  Senate  having  confirmed  all  these  nominations, 


*  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  who  had  re 
ceived  a  large  popular  vote  at  the  Presidential  election,  and  whose 
strength  in  the  electoral  college  made  him  the  third  of  four  Presidential 
nominees,  was  at  this  time  in  Washington,  and  his  appointment  to  a 
place  in  the  cabinet,  as  a  loyal  border  State  man,  was  desired  by  many, 
especially  in  the  West.  But  Mr.  Blair,  an  avowed  anti-slavery  man,  and 
one  of  the  most  radical  of  Republicans,  was  preferred  to  Mr.  Bell,  a  zeal 
ous  partizan  opponent,  and  one  whose  unreliable  character,  as  developed 
by  his  sudden  defection  to  the  rebel  cause,  President  Lincoln  was  not 
slow  to  perceive. 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  251 

the  gentlemen  immediately  entered  upon  the  discharge 
of  their  duties. 

One  of  the  first  and  most  difficult  duties  of  the  new 
President,  was  to  institute  a  thorough  "  sifting  out"  of 
all  the  disloyal  or  doubtful  men  occupying  responsible 
positions.  The  departments  and  the  city  were  filled 
with  sympathizers  with  the  rebellion,  whose  intimate 
knowledge  of  affairs  enabled  them  to  communicate 
information  of  every  movement  inaugurated,  and  even 
of  the  avowed  purposes  or  plans  of  every  high  officer  of 
the  government,  civil  or  military.  Men  who  had 
always  been  deemed  trustworthy,  were  afterwards  found 
to  have  been  in  complicity  with  the  traitors,  and  not  a 
few  holding  military  commissions,  were  regarded  as 
doubtful ;  so  that,  for  a  time,  it  was  uncertain  how  far 
any  one,  with  a  few  noble  exceptions,  in  the  responsible 
places,  in  army  or  navy,  could  be  relied  on  in  the 
emergencies  which  were  constantly  arising.  And  yet 
no  practical  measures  could  well  be  adopted,  until 
the  different  branches  of  government  were  thoroughly 
purged  of  treason.  The  President,  however,  fully 
appreciated  his  surroundings,  and  knowing  how  rampant 
the  whole  community  was  with  disloyalty,  how  every 
department  was  filled  with  spies  in  the  service  of  the 
enemy,  and  scarcely  knowing  whom  to  trust,  or  where 
to  lean  for  aid  and  counsel,  wisely  kept  his  own 
counsel. 

Inexperienced  as  he  was  in  military  affairs,  he  had 
the  ready  advice  and  faithful  service  of  the  illustrious 
head  of  the  army,  Lieutenant-General  Scott.  True 
and  loyal  as  that  veteran  general  was,  however,  his 
political  sympathies  had  never  gone  with  the  Repub- 


252  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN, 

lican  party,  while  his  Virginian  birth  and  associations 
led  him  to  shrink  from  every  appearance  of  attempted 
coercion.  It  is  no  secret  that  General  Scott  openly  and 
earnestly  advocated  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter — on 
military,  if  not  also  on  political  grounds;  and  it  is 
believed  that  he  converted  nearly  every  cabinet  minister 
to  his  views. 

The  President,  however,  while  adjusting  his  new 
agencies,  and  learning  the  spirit  of  the  men  about  him, 
in  the  army  and  in  the  navy  ;  as  well  as  awaiting,  with 
attentive  eye,  the  developments  of  opinion  and  action, 
in  both  sections,  allowed  the  consideration  of  this 
question  to  be  continued,  from  day  to  day,  without 
indicating  his  purpose.  The  emissaries  who  waited  here 
on  their  false  diplomatic  mission  were  kept  duly  apprised, 
through  traitorous  channels,  of  the  opinions  of  General 
Scott  and  the  deliberations  of  the  Cabinet;  and  they 
constantly  communicated  with  the  leaders  at  home ;  it 
being  deemed  expedient  to  allow,  during  all  this  period, 
free  intercourse  by  mail  and  telegraph.  The  result  was 
a  general  impression  at  the  South — for  which  no  word 
of  the  Chief  Executive  ever  gave  any  warrant,  although 
he  obviously  had  no  occasion  to  correct  any  such  mis 
conception — that  Fort  Sumter  was  to  be  evacuated,  and 
that  no  attempt  would  be  made  to  reinforce  Fort 
Pickens. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  Messrs.  Forsyth,  of  Alabama, 
and  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  appeared  in  Washington,  as 
commissioners  from  the  self-styled  "  Confederacy,"  and 
requested  an  unofficial  interview  with  the  Secretary  of 
State.  This,  as  well  as  a  subsequent  proposition  on 
their  part  to  negotiate  for  the  adjustment  9f  all  questions 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  253 

arising  from  tlie  separation  of  the  southern  States,  was 
declined  by  Mr.  Seward,  at  the  direction  of  the  Presi 
dent;  because  it  "  could  not  be  admitted  that  the  States 
referred  to  had,  in  law  or   fact,  withdrawn  from  the 
Federal  Union,  or  that  they  could  do  so  in  any  other 
manner  than  with  the  consent  and  concert  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  to  be  given  through  a  national 
convention  to  be  assembled  in  conformity  with  the  pro 
visions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States."     This 
refusal  was  immediately  made  the  pretext  for  precipi 
tating  the  impending  revolution  by  an  act  which,  it  was 
believed,  would  unite  all  the  southern  States  in  support 
of  the  Confederacy.     On  the  day  of  its  receipt,  the  8th 
of  April,  General  Beau  regard  telegraphed  from  Charles 
ton,   S.  C.,   to  the  rebel  Secretary  of  War,   at  Mont 
gomery,  Alabama,  that  "  an  authorized  messenger  from 
President  Lincoln  had  just  informed  Governor  Pickens 
and   himself,  that   provisions   would  be   sent   to  Fort 
Sumter  peaceably,  or  otherwise,  by  force."      He   was 
instructed  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  fort,  which  he 
did  on  the  llth,  and  was  promptly  informed  by  Major 
Anderson,  then  in  command,  that  his  "  sense  of  honor 
and  his  obligations  to  his  government,  prevented  his  com 
pliance."     On  the  night  of  the  same  day,  Beauregard 
wrote  to  Major  Anderson,  by  orders  of  his  government, 
that  if  he  "  would  state  the  time  at  which  he  would 
evacuate  Fort  Sumter"  (as  it  was  known  that  it  must 
soon  be  evacuated  for  lack  of  provisions)   "and  will 
agree  that,  in  the  meantime,  you  will  not  use  your  guns 
against  us  unless  ours  shall  be  employed  against  Fort 
Sumter,  we  will  abstain  from  opening  fire  upon  you." 
At  half-past   two  in  the  morning  of  the  12th;  Major 


254  TIIE  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Anderson  replied  that  he  would  evacuate  the  fort  by 
noon  on  the  15th,  abiding,  meantime,  by  the  terms  pro. 
posed,  unless  he  should  ••  receive,  prior  to  that,  control- 
ing  instructions  from  his  government,  or  additional 
supplies."  But  the  impatience  of  the  rebels  could  not 
be  restrained ;  and,  in  reply  to  this  note,  he  was  notified 
at  half-past  three,  that  their  batteries  would  open  upon 
the  fort  in  one  hour  from  that  time.  This  they  did, 
and  after  a  bombardment  of  thirty-three  hours,  gallantly 
sustained  by  Anderson  and  his  little  band  of  heroes, 
only  seventy  in  number — the  fort  was  evacuated  on 
Sabbath  morning,  the  14th  of  April,  1861. 

As  the  news  of  the  attack  on  Sumter  flashed  over  the 
country,  an  intense  and  universal  excitement  was 
aroused  in  both  sections.  Its  effect  was,  in  some 
respects,  precisely  what  had  been  anticipated  by  the 
rebel  leaders,  and  in  other  respects,  it  must  have 
seriously  disappointed  their  hopes.  The  South,  it  is 
needless  to  say,  was  intoxicated  with  exultation ;  the 
southern  heart  was,  at  last,  on  fire,  and  the  slight  con 
servative  element  which  had  struggled  against  secession, 
was  immediately  swept  away.  At  the  North,  however, 
incredulity  was  followed  by  a  burst  of  indignation — all 
party  lines  were,  for  the  moment,  broken  down, — and 
the  people,  arising  in  the  majesty  of  their  strength, 
rallied  around  the  "Old  Flag/'  in  support  of  the  "Con 
stitution  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws." 

The  President,  regarding  it  as  an  armed  attack  upon 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  in  support  of  the 
combination  which  had  been  organized  into  a  Confede 
racy  to  resist  and  destroy  its  authority,  saw  at  once  that 


AFTER   TIIE   INAUGURATION. 

it  could  be  met  and  d< .Tea  ted  only  by  a  force  placed 
in  his  hands  for  the  maintenance  of  that  authority. 

Whatever  could  be  done  to  avert  this  final  step, 
had  been  patiently,  kindly,  sincerely  done  by  Abraham 
Lincoln.  Truthful  history  will  record  this  of  him. 
through  all  ages,  to  his  lasting  praise.  No  rough 
-ion,  no  fretful  impatience,  no  revengeful  impulse. 
ever  ruflled  his  spirit  during  all  these  days  of  e^ 
But  the  gauntlet  was  at  length  thrown  down,  arid  no 
alternative  was  left  but  to  meet  force  with  force. 

All  incredulity  which  may  have  existed  in  northern 
minds  as  to  the  actual  commencement  of  hostilities .- 
as  to  the  purposes  of  the  Executive  in  this  momento:;.- 
juncture,  were  dispelled  when  the  public  journals  of 
Monday  morning,  April  15th,  displayed  conspicuously 
the  following 

PROCLAMATION: — By  the  President  of  tfte  United  Stats*. 

"  WHEKEAS,  The  laws  of  the  United  States  have  been  for 
some  time  past,  and  now  are  opposed,  and  the  execution 
thereof  obstructed,  in  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Texas,  by  com 
binations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the  ordinary  course 
of  judicial  proceedings,  or  by  the  powers  vested  in  the  mar 
shals  by  law :  Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President 
of  the  United  States,  in  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  by 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  have  thought  fit  to  call  forth, 
and  hereby  do  call  forth,  the  militia  of  the  several  States  of 
the  Union,  to  the  aggregate  number  of  seventy-five  thousand, 
in  order  to  suppress  said  combinations,  and  to  cause  the  laws  to 
be  duly  executed. 

"  The  details  for  this  object  will  be  immediately  communi 
cated  to  the  State  authorities  through  the  War  Department.  I 


256  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

appeal  to  all  loyal  citizens  to  favor,  facilitate  and  aid  this  effort 
to  maintain  the  honor,  the  integrity,  and  the  existence  of  our 
national  Union,  and  the  perpetuity  of  popular  government,  and 
to  redress  wrongs  already  long  enough  endured.  I  deem  it 
proper  to  say  that  the  first  service  assigned  to  the  forces  hereby 
called  forth,  will  probably  be  to  repossess  the  forts,  places,  and 
property  which  have  been  seized  from  the  Union  ;  and  in  every 
event  the  utmost  care  will  be  observed,  consistently  with  the 
objects  aforesaid,  to  avoid  any  devastation,  any  destruction  of 
or  interference  with  property,  or  any  disturbance  of  peaceful 
citizens  of  any  part  of  the  country ;  and  I  hereby  command 
the  persons  composing  the  combinations  aforesaid,  to  disperse 
and  retire  peaceably  to  their  respective  abodes,  within*  twenty 
days  from  this  date. 

"  Deeming  that  the  present  condition  of  public  affairs  pre 
sents  an  extraordinary  occasion,  I  do  hereby,  in  virtue  of  the 
power  in  me  vested  by  the  Constitution,  convene  both  houses 
of  Congress.  The  Senators  and  Eepresentatives  are,  therefore, 
summoned  to  assemble  at  their  respective  chambers  at  twelve 
o'clock,  noon,  on  Thursday,  the  fourth  day  of  July  next,  then 
and  there  to  consider  and  determine  such  measures  as  in  their 
wisdom  the  public  safety  and  interest  may  seem  to  demand. 

"  In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  fifteenth  day  of  April, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-one,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
the  eighty-fifth.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  By  the  President : 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State." 

Right  promptly  and  gloriously  did  the  people  respond 
to  this  proclamation.  Scarcely  a  voice  throughout  the 
North  was  raised  against  this  measure,  which  was  felt 
to  be  so  clearly  an  absolute  necessity  of  self-defence  on 


AFTER   THE    INAUGURATION.  257 

the  part  of  the  government.  From  every  northern 
State,  and  from  private  persons  as  well  as  Legislatures, 
came  the  offer  of  men,  arms  and  money,  in  unstinted 
profusion,  for  the  defence  and  support  of  the  govern 
ment.  Massachusetts  was  first  in  the  field,  and  within 
twenty-four  hours  after  the  issue  of  the  proclamation, 
her  Sixth  Regiment,  fully  equipped,  was  on  the  road  to 
the  national  capital ;  while,  within  the  next  forty -eight 
hours,  two  more  regiments  were  made  ready  and  de 
parted  to  the  same  point.  The  Sixth,  in  its  march 
through  Baltimore  on  the  19th,  was  attacked  by  a  mob 
of  secessionists,  and  several  of  its  members  were  killed 
or  severely  wounded.  This  added  fuel  to  the  excite 
ment  which  already  pervaded  the  country.  The  north 
ern  section  of  the  Union  felt  outraged  that  troops  should 
be  assailed  and  murdered  on  their  way  to  protect  the 
capital  of  the  nation.  In  Maryland,  where  the  secession 
party  was  strong,  there  was  also  great  excitement  ;  and 
the  Governor  of  the  State  and  the  Mayor  of  Baltimore 
united  in  urging,  for  prudential  reasons,  that  no  more 
troops  should  be  brought  through  that  city.  To  their 
representations  the  President  made  the  following  reply : 

"  WASHINGTON,  April  29,  1861. 
"  GOVEKNOK  HICKS  AND  MAYOR  BROWN  : 

"GENTLEMEN:  Your  letter  by  Messrs.  Bond,  Dobbin,  and 
Brune  is  received.  I  tender  you  both  my  sincere  thanks  for 
your  efforts  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  trying  situation  in  which 
you  are  placed. 

"For  the  future,  troops  must  be  brought  here,  but  I  make  no 

point    of   bringing   them   through   Baltimore.     Without    any 

military  knowledge  myself,  of  course  I  must  leave  details  to 

General  Scott.     He  hastily  said  this  morning,  in  the  presence 

17 


258  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  these  gentlemen,  '  March  them  around  Baltimore  and  not 
through  it.'  I  sincerely  hope  the  General,  on  fuller  reflection, 
will  consider  this  practical  and  proper,  and  that  you  will  not 
object  to  it.  By  this,  a  collision  of  the  people  of  Baltimore 
with  the  troops  will  be  avoided,  unless  they  go  out  of  their 
way  to  seek  it.  I  hope  you  will  exert  your  influence  to 
prevent  this. 

"  Now  and  ever  I  shall  do  all  in  my  power  for  peace  con 
sistently  with  the  maintenance  of  the  government. 

"  Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN." 

In  response  to  a  similar  request  from  Governor  Hicks, 
Accompanied  by  a  suggestion  that  the  controversy 
between  the  North  and  South  might  be  referred  to  Lord 
Lyons,  the  British  Minister,  for  arbitration,  President 
Lincoln,  through  the  Secretary  of  State,  made  the 
following  reply : 

"DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  April  22d,  1861. 

"His  EXCELLENCY  THOS.  H.  HICKS,  Governor  of  Maryland: 

"SiR:  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  communication 
of  this  morning,  in  which  you  inform  me  that  you  have  felt 
it  to  be  your  duty  to  advise  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  order  elsewhere  the  troops  then  off  Annapolis,  and  also  that 
no  more  may  be  sent  through  Maryland ;  and  that  you  have 
further  suggested  that  Lord  Lyons  be  requested  to  act  as 
mediator  between  the  contending  parties  in  our  country,  to 
prevent  the  effusion  of  blood. 

"  The  President  directs  me  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  that 
communication,  and  to  assure  you  that  he  has  weighed  the 
counsels  it  contains  with  the  respect  which  he  habitually 
cherishes  for  the  Chief  Magistrates  of  the  several  States,  and 
especially  for  yourself.  He  regrets,  as  deeply  as  any  magistrate 
or  citizen  of  tikis  country  can,  that  demonstrations  against  the 
safety  of  the  United  States,  with  very  extensive  preparations 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  259 

for  the  effusion  of  blood,  have  made  it  his  duty  to  call  out  the 
forces  to  which  you  allude. 

"  The  force  now  sought  to  be  brought  through  Maryland,  is 
intended  for  nothing  but  the  defence  of  the  capital.  The 
President  has  necessarily  confided  the  choice  of  the  national 
highway  which  that  force  shall  take  in  coming  to  this  city  to 
the  Lieutenant- General  commanding  the  Army  of  the  United 
States,  who  like  his  only  predecessor,  is  not  less  distinguished 
for  his  humanity,  than  for  his  loyalty,  patriotism,  and  dis 
tinguished  public  service. 

"  The  President  instructs  me  to  add,  that  the  national  highway 
thus  selected  by  the  Lieutenant-Greneral  has  been  chosen  by 
him,  upon  consultation  with  prominent  magistrates  and  citizens 
of  Maryland,  as  the  one  which,  while  a  route  is  absolutely 
necessary,  is  farthest  removed  from  the  populous  cities  of  the 
State,  and  with  the  expectation  that  it  would  therefore  be  the 
least  objectionable  one. 

"  The  President  cannot  but  remember  that  there  has  been  a 
time  in  the  history  of  our  country  when  a  general  of  the 
American  Union,  with  forces  designed  for  the  defence  of  its 
capital,  was  not  unwelcome  anywhere  in  the  State  of  Maryland 
and  certainly  not  at  Annapolis,  then,  as  now,  the  capital  of  that 
patriotic  State,  and  then,  also,  one  of  the  capitals*  of  the  Union. 

"  If  eighty  years  could  have  obliterated  all  the  other  noble 
sentiments  of  that  age  in  Maryland,  the  President  would  be 
hopeful,  nevertheless,  that  there  is  one  that  wtfuld  forever 
remain  there  and  everywhere.  That  sentiment  is,  that  no 
domestic  contention  whatever  that  may  arise  among  the  parties 
of  this  republic,  ought  in  any  case  to  be  referred  to  any 
foreign  arbitrament,  least  of  all  to  the  arbitrament  of  a  European 
monarchy. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  distinguished  consideration, 
your  Excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  IT.  SEWARD." 


260  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

It  was,  however,  subsequently  agreed  between  General 
Scott  and  the  Maryland  authorities  that  troops  should 
be  forwarded  by  way  of  Annapolis,  until  peace  and 
order  were  restored  in  Baltimore,  when  the  regular  use 
of  the  highway  through  that  city  was  resumed. 

Such  were  the  initial  steps  by  which  the  government 
sought  to  repel  the  attempt  of  the  rebel  Confederacy  to 
overthrow  its  authority  by  force  of  arms,  and  its  action 
was  at  that  time  wholly  defensive.  The  declarations 
of  rebel  officials,  as  w^ell  as  the  language  of  the  southern 
press,  indicated  very  clearly  their  intention  to  push  the 
war  into  the  North.  Jefferson  Davis  had  pledged  him 
self,  more  than  a  month  previous,  that  whenever  the 
war  should  open,  the  North  and  not  the  South  should 
be  the  field  of  battle.  At  a  popular  demonstration  held 
at  Montgomery,  Ala.,  on  hearing  that  fire  had  been 
opened  upon  Sumter,  L.  P.  Walker,  the  rebel  Secretary 
of  War,  had  said,  that  while  "  no  man  could  tell  where 
the  war  would  end,  he  would  prophesy  that  the  flag 
which  now  ^flaunts  the  breeze  here,  would  float  over  tlie 
dome  of  the  old  capital  at  Washington  before  the  first  of 
May,"  and  that  it  "  might  float  eventually  over  Faneuil 
Hall  itself."  The  rebel  government  had  gone  forward 
with  great  vigor  to  make  good  these  predictions.  Vol 
unteers  were  summoned  to  the  field.  Besides  garrisoning 
the  fortresses  in  their  possession  along  the  southern 
coast,  a  force  of  nearly  twenty  thousand  men  was 
pushed  rapidly  forward  to  Virginia.  A  loan  of  eight 
millions  of  dollars  was  raised,  and  Davis  issued  a  procla 
mation  offering  letters  of  marque  to  all  persons  who 
might  desire  to  aid  the  rebel  government  and  enrich 
themselves  by  depredations  upon  the  rich  and  extended 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  261 

commerce  of  the  United  States.  The  South  thus 
plunged  openly  and  boldly  into  a  war  of  aggression ;  and 
the  President,  in  strict  conformity  with  the  declaration 
of  his  inaugural,  put  the  government  upon  the  defensive, 
and  limited  the  military  operations  of  the  moment  to 
the  protection  of  the  capital. 

The  week  following  the  President's  proclamation  was 
crowded  with  important  events.  Public  meetings  were 
held  all  through  the  loyal  States,  and  the  response  to  the 
call  for  troops  was  hearty  and  universal.  The  spirit 
already  roused  throughout  the  country  was  greatly  inten 
sified  by  the  attempts  of  the  secession  mob  in  Baltimore  to 
prevent  the  passage  of  the  Massachusetts  Sixth  through 
that  city.  Enlistments  followed  with  such  rapidity  that 
it  was  soon  only  a  question  whose  services  should  be 
declined,  of  the  tens  of  thousands  offering  themselves. 

"  The  city  of  Washington,  an  object  of  threatened 
attack,  and  thronged  with  people,  who  either  openly 
proclaimed  their  hostility  to  the  government,  or  were 
of  doubtful  fidelity,  was  full  of  excitement — liable 
at  any  moment  to  an  emeute  or  to  an  irruption  of  rebel 
troops  already  in  the  field  in  Virginia.  Alexandria  was 
in  their  possession,  or  easily  accessible  at  any  moment 
from  Richmond.  Eumors  were  current  of  an  immediate 
intention  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate  leaders  to 
occupy  Arlington  Heights,  completely  commanding  the 
city,  while  as  yet  only  a  few  companies  of  the  regular 
service,  with  two  or  three  light  field  batteries,  were  in 
Washington  for  its  defence.  To  these  were  added  a 
few  hundred  volunteer  militia,  made  up  chiefly  of 
transient  sojourners  at  the  capital.  A  few  dragoons, 
with  a  detachment  of  artillery,  guarded  the  Long 


262  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Bridge,  and  the  Navy  Yard  and  other  portions  of  the 
city  had  a  small  guard  of  extemporized  infantry.  There 
was  also  a  single  company  of  sappers  and  miners,  under 
Lieutenant  (now  General)  Weitzel.  Thus  passed  an 
anxious  week,  while  every  exertion  wras  made  by  the 
government  and  its  loyal  supporters  to  assemble  an 
adequate  defensive  force.  How  easily  the  place  might 
have  been  taken,  with  not  one  of  the  present*  numerous 
and  strong  fortifications,  with  no  army  but  half  a 
dozen  scattered  companies  of  infantry,  cavalry  and 
artillery,  and  with  so  large  a  number  within  ready  to 
rise  and  give  active  welcome  to  the  assailing  force  they 
so  eagerly  expected,  need  not  here  be  discussed.  From 
one  extremity  of  the  country  to  the  other,  the  danger 
was  seen  and  felt.  The  few  days  needful,  fortunately 
were  gained." 

Harper's  Ferry,  threatened  by  the  rebel  enemy,  was 
abandoned  by  the  small  United  States  force  there,  after 
destroying  the  arsenal  and  other  important  government 
property ;  and  almost  simultaneously,  two  New  England 
regiments,  despatched  by  wise  forethought,  arrived  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  and  secured  a  permanent  occupation 
of  that  strong  position  in  the  Old  Dominion,  which  had 
now  become  (without  waiting  for  the  consummation  of 
the  farce  of  a  popular  vote  under  duress)  the  eighth 
State  of  the  rebel  Confederacy. 

The  route  by  Annapolis  was  opened  by  General 
Butler  and  his  Massachusetts  force,  and  on  the  25th  of 
April  troops  from  the  North  began  to  pour  into  Wash 
ington,  relieving  all  immediate  anxiety.  The  people 
had  nobly  responded.  The  "great  uprising"  was  au 
assured  event. 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  263 

The  foremost  purpose  of  government  was  strictly  a 
defensive  one.  To  protect  the  capital  first  of  all — for 
in  the  flush  of  triumph  over  the  reduction  of  Fort 
Suftiter,  the  determination  to  take  Washington,  was 
boldly  avowed,  alike  by  the  rebel  Secretary  of  War  and 
by  the  organs  of  public  opinion  everywhere  in  the 
insurrectionary  States — was  the  object  aimed  at  by  the 
President,  and  energetically  undertaken  by  General 
Scott.  Secondary  to  this,  and  a  labor  for  the  future, 
was  the  reoccupation  and  repossession  of  Federal  forts 
and  Federal  property  already  seized  by  the  rebels,  and 
the  retention  of  such  as  were  threatened,  as  distinctly 
promised  by  the  President  in  his  inaugural  address — 
forcibly  now,  since  the  peaceable  alternative  was  no 
longer  possible.  The  blockade  by  sea,  and  a  defensive 
campaign  by  land,  were  immediate  steps  recommended 
by  the  General-in-Chief,  and  adopted  by  the  Adminis 
tration. 

On  the  27th,  the  following  new  military  departments 
were  announced,  under  command  of  able  generals  : 

1.  The  Department  of  Washington,  including  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  the  adjacent  country,  and  the 
State  of  Maryland  as  far  as  Bladensburgh,  inclusive; 
under  the  command  of  General  J.  K.  F.  Mansfield — 
headquarters  at  Washington.  2.  The  Department  of 
Annapolis,  including  the  country  for  twenty  miles  on 
each  side  of  the  railroad  from  Annapolis  to  the  city  of 
Washington,  as  far  as  Bladensburgh  ;  under  the  com 
mand  of  General  B.  F.  Butler — headquarters  at  An 
napolis.  3.  The  Department  of  Pennsylvania,  includ 
ing  that  State,  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  all  of  the 
State  of  Maryland  not  embraced  within  the  depart- 


264  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ments  first  named;  under  command  of  General  Robert 
Patterson — headquarters  at  Philadelphia.  This  organ 
ization  of  departments  indicates  the  field  of  contem 
plated  military  operations  in  the*  East.  *  The  Depart 
ment  of  Washington  extended  no  further  southward 
than  the  old  limits  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  an 
extension  into  Virginia  only  for  the  obvious  purpose  of 
including  Alexandria  and  Arlington  Heights,  as  essential 
to  the  defences  of  the  capital. 

To  these  departments  were  added  a  fourth,  on  the 
10th  day  of  May,  including  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and  Illinois,  under  the  command  of  General  George  B. 
McClellan — headquarters  at  Cincinnati;  a  department 
manifestly  organized  with  a  view  to  the  maintenance  of 
a  defensive  line,  on  the  Ohio  river,  from  Wheeling  to 
Cairo. 

It  is  especially  worthy  of  note,  that  Mr.  Lincoln, 
with  a  magnanimity  which  saw  only  an  endangered 
country,  and  which  desired  only  its  safety,  had  placed 
at  the  head  of  three  of  these  important  departments 
three  of  his  most  decided  political  opponents — Patterson, 
Butler,  and  McClellan. 

The  State  of  Virginia,  which  had  hitherto  hung  back 
from  fully  committing  herself  to  the  cause  of  secession, 
was  now  "  goaded"  by  a  demand  from  Governor  Pickens 
of  South  Carolina,  as  to  what  course  she  intended  to 
take  in  the  war  they  had  just  commenced,  and  in  which 
they  were  determined  to  triumph  or  perish.  Thus 
urged,  the  State  Convention  sent  a  committee  to  Wash 
ington  to  inquire  of  the  President  what  his  intentions 
were  towards  the  southern  States.  To  this  inquiry  Mr. 
Lincoln  returned  the  following  reply  : 


AFTER    THE   INAUGURATION.  265 

"  To  HON.  MESSRS.  PRESTON,  STUART,  AND  EANDOLPH  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  As  a  committee  of  the  Virginia  Convention, 
now  in  session,  you  present  me  a  preamble  and  resolution  in 

these  words : 

•» 

"  '  Whereas,  In  the  opinion  of  this  Convention,  the  uncertainty 
which  prevails  in  the  public  mind  as  to  the  policy  which  the 
\  Federal  Executive  intends  to  pursue  towards  the  seceded 
States,  is  extremely  injurious  to  the  industrial  aod  commercial 
interests  of  the  country,  tends  to  keep  up  an  excitement  which 
is  unfavorable  to  the  adjustment  of  the  pending  difficulties,  and 
threatens  a  disturbance  of  the  public  peace ;  therefore, 

"  '  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  delegates  be  appointed 
to  wait  on  the  President  of  the  United  States,  present  to  him 
this  preamble,  and  respectfully  ask  him  to  communicate  to  this 
Convention  the  policy  which  the  Federal  Executive  intends  to 
pursue  in  regard  to  the  Confederate  States.' 

"In  answer  I  have  to  say,  that  having,  at  the  beginning  of 
my  official  term,  expressed  my  intended  policy  as  plainly  as  I 
was  able,  it  is  with  deep  regret  and  mortification  1  now  learn 
there  is  great  and  injurious  uncertainty  in  the  public  mind  as 
to  what  that  policy  is,  and  what  course  I  intend  to  pursue. 
Not  having  as  yet  seen  occasion  to  change,  it  is  now  my  pur 
pose  to  pursue  the  course  marked  out  in  the  inaugural  address. 
I  commend  a  careful  consideration  of  the  whole  document  as 
the  best  expression  I  can  give  to  my  purposes.  As  I  then  and 
therein  said,  I  now  repeat,  '  The  power  confided  in  me  will  be 
used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  property  and  places  belong 
ing  to  the  government,  and  to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts  ; 
but  beyond  what  is  necessary  for  these  objects  there  will  be  no 
invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people  any 
where.'  By  the  words  'property  and  places  belonging  to  the 
government,'  I  chiefly  allude  to  the  military  posts  and  property 
which  were  in  possession  of  the  government  when  it  came  into 
my  hands.  But  if,  as  now  appears  to  be  true,  in  pursuit  of  a 
purpose  to  drive  the  United  States  authority  from  these  places, 


266  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

an  unprovoked  assault  has  been  made  upon  Fort  Sumter,  I  shall 
hold  myself  at  liberty  to  repossess  it,  if  I  can,  like  places  which 
had  been  seized  before  the  government  was  devolved  upon  me  ; 
and  in  any  event  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  repel  force 
by  force.  In  case  it  proves  true  that  Fort  Sumter  has  been 
assaulted,  as  is  reported,  I  shall,  perhaps,  cause  the  United 
States  mails  to  be  withdrawn  from  all  the  States  which  claim 
to  have  seceded,  believing  that  the  commencement  of  actual 
war  against  the  government  justifies  and  possibly  demands  it. 
I  scarcely  need  to  say  that  I  consider  the  military  posts  and 
property  situated  within  the  States  which  clakn  to  have  seceded, 
as  yet  belonging  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  as 
much  as  they  did  before  the  supposed  secession.  Whatever 
else  I  may  do  for  the  purpose,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  collect 
the  duties  and  imposts  by  any  armed  invasion  of  any  part  of 
the  country ;  not  meaning  by  this,  however,  that  I  may  not 
land  a  force  deemed  necessary  to  relieve  a  fort  upon  the  border 
of  the  country.  From  the  fact  that  I  have  quoted  a  part  of  the 
inaugural  address,  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  I  repudiate  any 
other  part,  the  whole  of  which  I  reaffirm,  except  so  far  as  what 
I  now  say  of  the  mails  may  be  regarded  as  a  modification. 

"ABKAHAM  LINCOLN." 

On  the  seventeenth,  the  State  of  Virginia  seceded,  by 
a  vote  of  eighty-eight  to  fifty-five ;  and  on  the  twenty- 
first  of  May,  the  capital  of  the  rebel  government  was 
transferred  to  Kiclimond.  Virginia  having  thus  been 
carried  out  of  the  Union,  about  this  time,  by  fraud,  ter 
rorism  and  violence,  other  slave  States  followed  her 
example;  and  hence,  on  the  27th  of  April,  the  block 
ade  of  rebel  ports  was  extended,  by  proclamation,  to 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  The  rebel  authorities, 
however,  were  not  as  successful  in  their  strenuous  en 
deavors  to  secure  the  adhesion  of  Maryland,  Kentucky, 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  267 

Tennessee  and  Missouri  to  the  Confederacy — all  of 
which  but  Tennessee,  were,  by  the  wise  forbearance 
of  the  President's  earlier  measures,  held  aloof  from 
active  participation  in  the  secession  movement. 

North  and  South  now  devoted  the  months  of  May 
and  June  to  active  and  vigorous  preparations  for  the 
inevitable  conflict  awaiting  them.  In  the  rebel  States 
over  one  hundred  thousand  troops  had  been  raised,  and 
a  large  portion  of  them  had  been  massed  near  the  north 
ern  border.  Meanwhile,  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  on  the  20th  of  April,  seized  all  the  despatches 
which  had  accumulated  in  the  telegraph  offices  during 
the  preceding  year,  for  the  purpose  of  detecting  move 
ments  in  aid  of  the  conspiracy.  The  ports  of  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia  were  included  within  the  block 
ade  established  along  the  southern  coast,  and  on  the 
third  of  May  the  President  issued  a  proclamation  call 
ing  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  forty-two 
thousand  and  thirty-four  volunteers  for  three  years,  and 
ordering  an  addition  of  twenty-two  thousand  one  hun 
dred  and  fourteen,  officers  and  men,  to  the  regular  army, 
and  eighteen  thousand  seamen  to  the  navy.  On  the 
sixteenth,  by  another  proclamation,  he  directed  the 
commander  of  the  United  States  forces  in  Florida  to 
"  permit  no  person  to  exercise  any  office  or  authority 
upon  the  islands  of  Key  West,  the  Tortugas,  and  Santa 
Kosa,  which  may  be  inconsistent  with  the  laws  and 
Constitution  of  the  United  States — authorizing  ^him,  at 
the  same  time,  if  he  shall  find  it  necessary,  to  suspend 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  to  remove  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  United  States  fortresses  all  dangerous  or 
suspected  persons." 


268  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

It  would  be  idle  to  attempt  a  succinct  narration, 
within  the  limits  of  this  volume,  of  the  multitude  of 
orders,  proclamations,  etc.,  which  followed  each  other 
in  rapid  succession  after  the  commencement  of  hostili 
ties.  We  must  confine  our  record  to  a  synopsis,  if  we 
would  keep  our  subject  of  biography  in  view. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  new  administration,  was 
to  define  the  position  to  be  taken  by  the  government  of 
the  United  States  towards  foreign  nations  in  view  of 
the  rebellion.  The  attitude  which  the  President  de 
cided  to  assume,  is  very  distinctly  set  forth  in  the  letter 
of  instructions  prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
Mr.  Adams,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  the  court  of 
St.  James,  and  dated  April  10,  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  Before  considering  the  arguments  you  are  to  use,  it  is  im 
portant  to  indicate  those  which  you  are  not  to  employ  in  exe 
cuting  that  mission. 

"First.  The  President  has  noticed,  as  the  whole  American 
people  have,  with  much  emotion,  the  expression  of  good-will 
and  friendship  towards  the  United  States,  and  of  concern  for 
their  present  embarrassments,  which  have  been  made,  on  apt 
occasions,  by  her  Majesty  and  her  ministers.  You  will  make 
due  acknowledgment  for  these  manifestations,  but  at  the  same 
time  you  will  not  rely  on  any  mere  sympathies  or  national 
'kindness.  You  will  make  no  admission  of  weakness  in  our 
Constitution,  or  of  apprehension  on  the  part  of  the  govern 
ment.  You  will  rather  prove,  as  you  easily  can  by  comparing 
the  history  of  our  country  with  that  of  other  States,  that  its 
Constitution  and  government  are  really  the  strongest  and  surest 
which  have  ever  been  erected  for  the  safety  of  any  people. 
You  will  in  no  case  listen  to  any  suggestions  of  compromise  by 
this  government,  under  foreign  auspices,  with  its  discontented 
citizens.  If,  as  the  President  does  not  at  all  apprehend,  you 


AFTER   THE   INAUGURATION.  269 

shall  unhappily  find  her  Majesty's  government  tolerating  the 
application  of  the  so-called  seceding  States,  or  wavering  about 
it,  you  will  not  leave  them  to  suppose  for  a  moment  that  they 
can  grant  that  application  and  remain  the  friends  of  the  United 
States.  You  may  even  assure  them  promptly,  in  that  case,  that  if 
they  determine  to  recognize,  they  may  at  the  same  time  prepare  to 
enter  into  alliance  with  the  enemies  of  this  republic.  You  alone 
will  represent  your  country  at  London,  and  you  will  represent  the 
whole  of  it  there.  When  you  are  asked  to  divide  that  duty  with 
others,  diplomatic  relations  between  the  government  of  Great  Britain 
and  this  government  will  be  suspended,  and  will  remain  so  until 
it  shall  be  seen  which  of  the  two  is  most  strongly  intrenched  in  the 
confidence  of  their  respective  nations  and  of  mankind. 

"You  will  not  be  allowed,  however,  even  if  you  were  dis 
posed,  as  the  President  is  sure  you  will  not  be,  to  rest  your 
opposition  to  the  application  of  the  Confederate  States  on  the 
ground  of  any  favor  this  Administration,  or  the  party  which 
chiefly  called  it  into  existence,  proposes  to  show  to  Great 
Britain,  or  claims  that  Great  Britain  ought  to  show  them. 
You  will  not  consent  to  draw  into  debate  before  the  British 
Government  any  opposing  moral  principles  which  may  be  sup 
posed  to  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the  controversy  between  those 
States  and  the  Federal  Union. 

"  You  will  indulge  in  no  expressions  of  harshness  or  disre 
spect,  or  even  impatience,  concerning  the  seceding  States,  their 
agents,  or  their  people.  But  you  will,  on  the  contrary,  all  the 
while  remember  that  those  States  are  now,  as  they  always  here 
tofore  have  been,  and,  notwithstanding  their  temporary  self- 
delusion,  they  must  always  continue  to  be,  equal  and  honored 
members  of  this  Federal  Union,  and  that  their  citizens  through 
out  all  political  misunderstandings  and  alienations,  still  are  and 
always  must  be,  our  kindred  and  countrymen.  In  short,  all 
your  arguments  must  belong  to  one  of  three  classes,  namely : 
First.  Arguments  drawn  from  the  principles  of  public  law  and 
natural  justice,  which  regulate  the  intercourse  of  equal  States. 
Secondly.  Arguments  which  concern  equally  the  honor,  welfare, 


270  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

and  happiness  of  the  discontented  States,  and  the  honor,  wel 
fare,  and  happiness  of  the  whole  Union.  Thirdly.  Arguments 
which  are  equally  conservative  of  the  rights  and  interests,  and 
even  sentiments  of  the  United  States,  and  just  in  their  bearing 
upon  the  rights,  interests,  and  sentiments  of  Great  Britain  and 
all  other  nations." 

Previously,  however,  to  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Adams  at 
London,  the  British  and  French  governments,  acting  in 
concert,   had    determined   to  recognize  the  rebels  as  a 
belligerent   power;    and    on   the    15th    of  June,    their 
representatives  at  Washington  requested  an  interview 
with  the  Secretary  of  State,  to  communicate  to  him  the 
fact  of  this  decision.     This    document,    although    sub 
mitted   to   his   private  perusal,    Mr.   Seward   declined 
altogether  to  hear,  or  to  receive  officially.     Mr.  Adams 
was  instructed  to  protest  against  this  recognition  of  the 
South  as  belligerents,  and  in  all  diplomatic  intercourse 
with  foreign  governments,  from  that  time  to  the  present, 
the  action  of  the  seceding  States  was  treated  as  rebel 
lion,  purely  domestic  in  its  character,  upon  the  nature 
or  merits  of  which  it  would  be  unbecoming  in  us  to  hold 
any  discussion  with  any  foreign  power.     Upon  all  those 
governments   the  duty  of  accepting  this  view  of  the 
question,  and  of  abstaining,  consequently,  from  every 
act  which  could  be  construed  into  any  recognition  of 
the  rebel  Confederacy,  or  which  could  embarrass  the 
government  of  the  United    States  in  its  endeavors  to 
re-establish  its  rightful  authority,  was  constantly  and 
firmly  pressed.     "  You  cannot  be  too  decided  or  explicit" 
was  the  uniform  language  of  the  Secretary,  "in making 
known  to  the  government  that  there  is  not  now,  nor  has 
there   been,    nor   will    there  be,    the    least    idea  existing 
in  this  government,  of  suffering  a   dissolution  of   this 
Union,  to  take  place  in  any  way  whatever" 


THE   EXTRA    SESSION   OF   CONGRESS.  271 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    EXTRA    SESSION     OF    CONGRESS,    AND    THE    FIRST    UN- 
FOLDINGS   OF   THE    POLICY   OF   EMANCIPATION. 

The  Extra  Session  of  Congress. — Mr.  Lincoln's  first  Annual  Message.-— 
He  is  strongly  sustained  by  the  action  of  Congress,  and  the  sentiment 
of  the  people.— The  disastrous  Battle  of  Bull  Kun,  July  21st,  1861.— 
General  McClellan  succeeds  General  Scott  in  command  of  the  Nationa 
armies. — General  Butler's  theory  and  practice  in  regard  to  fugitive 
slaves  applying  for  protection. — He  decides  them  to  be  "  contraband 
of  war." — His  view  indorsed  by  Government. — Fremont  issues  an 
Emancipation  Proclamation. — It  is  vetoed  by -the  President. — The 
Trent  affair,  and  its  results. 

IN  accordance  with  the  President's  proclamation  of 
the  15th  of  April,  Congress  convened  in  extra  session 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1861 ;  both  Houses  being  strongly 
Republican.  On  the  5th,  the  President  sent  in  his  first 
annual  message.  In  this  able  document,  which  we 
lack  space  to  reproduce  in  full,  Mr.  Lincoln  gives  a 
concise  statement  of  the  critical  situation  of  affairs  at 
the  time  when  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office ; 
reviews  the  circumstances  under  which  hostilities  were 
commenced,  and  thus  briefly  sets  forth  the  course  which 
he  had  endeavored  to  pursue  towards  the  rebellious 
States,  until  their  open  act  of  bloodshed  had  compelled 
him  to  sterner  measures. 

"  Finding  this  condition  of  things,  and  believing  it  to  be  an 
imperative  duty  upon  the  incoming  Executive  to  prevent,  if 
possible,  the  consummation  of  such  attempt  to  destroy  the 


272  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Federal  Union,  a  choice  of  means  to  that  end  became  indispen 
sable.  This  choice  was  made,  and  was  declared  in  the  in 
augural  address.  The  policy  chosen  looked  to  the  exhaustion 
of  all  peaceful  measures  before  a  resort  to  any  stronger  ones. 
It  sought  only  to  hold  the  public  places  and  property  not 
already  wrested  from  the  government,  and  to  collect  the 
revenue,  relying  for  the  rest  on  time,  discussion,  and  the  ballot- 
box.  It  promised  a  continuance  of  the  mails,  at  government 
expense,  to  the  very  people  who  were  resisting  the  govern 
ment  ;  and  it  gave  repeated  pledges  against  any  disturbance  to 
any  of  the  people,  or  any  of  their  rights.  Of  all  that  which  a 
President  might  constitutionally  and  justifiably  do  in  such 
a  case,  every  thing  was  forborne,  without  which  it  was  believed 
possible  to  keep  the  government  on  foot." 

This  conciliatory  policy,  however,  had  been  in  vain. 
The  madness  of  the  leaders  of  the  insurrectionary 
movement  had  hurried  them  on  in  their  wild  schemes, 
until  the  foul  crime  of  Sumter's  bombardment  set  at 
naught  any  further  efforts  at  conciliation  and  peace. 

•'  The  assault  upon  and  reduction  of  Fort  Sumter,  '  says  tho 
President,'  was  in  no  sense  a  matter  of  self-defence  on  the  part 
of  the  assailants.  They  well  knew  that  the  garrison  in  the  fort 
could  by  no  possibility  commit  aggression  upon  them.  They 
knew — they  were  expressly  notified — that  the  giving  of  bread 
to  the  few  brave  and  hungry  men  of  the  garrison  was  all  which 
would  on  that  occasion  be  attempted,  unless  themselves,  by 
resisting  so  much,  should  provoke  more.  They  knew  that  this 
government  desired  to  keep  the  garrison  in  the  fort,  not  to 
assail  them,  but  to  maintain  visible  possession,  and  thus  to  pre 
serve  the  Union  from  actual  and  immediate  dissolution — trust 
ing,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  to  time,  discussion,  and  the  ballot- 
box  for  final  adjustment ;  and  they  assailed  and  reduced  the 
fort  for  precisely  the  reverse  object — to  drive  out  the  visible 
authority  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  thus  force  it  to  immediate 


THE   EXTRA    SESSION   OF    CONGRESS.  273 

dissolution.  That  this  was  their  object  the  Executive  well 
understood  ;  and  having  said  to  them  in  the  inaugural  address, 
'You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the 
aggressors,'  he  took  pains  not  only  to  keep  this  declaration 
good,  but  also  to  keep  the  case  so  free  from  the  power  of 
ingenious  sophistry  that  the  world  should  not  be  able  to  mis 
understand  it.  By  the  affair  at  Fort  Sumter,  with  its  surround 
ing  circumstances,  .that  point  was  reached.  Then  and  thereby 
the  assailants  of  the  government  began  the  conflict  of  arms, 
without  a  gun  in  sight,  or  in  expectancy  to  return  their  fire, 
save  only  the  few  in  the  fort,  sent  to  that  harbor  years  before 
for  their  own  protection,  and  still  ready  to  give  that  protection 
in  whatever  was  lawful.  In  this  act,  discarding  all  else,  they 
have  forced  upon  the  country  the  distinct  issue,  'immediate 
dissolution  or  blood.' 

"  And  this  issue  embraces  more  than  the  fate  of  these  United 
States.  It  presents  to  the  whole  family  of  man  the  question, 
whether  a  constitutional  republic  or  democracy — a  government 
of  the  people  by  the  same  people — can  or  cannot  maintain  its 
territorial  integrity  against  its  own  domestic  foes.  It  presents 
the  question,  whether  discontented  individuals,  too  few  in 
numbers  to  control  administration,  according  to  organic  law, 
in  any  case,  can  always,  upon  the  pretences  made  in  this  case, 
or  on  any  other  pretences,  or  arbitrarily,  without  any  pretence, 
break  up  their  government,  and  thus  practically  put  an  end  to 
free  government  upon  the  earth.  It  forces  us  to  ask,  '  Is  there, 
in  all  republics,  this  inherent  and  fatal  weakness?'  'Must 
a  government,  of  necessity,  be  too  strong  for  the  liberties  of  its 
own  people,  or  too  weak  to  maintain  its  own  existence  ?' 

"  So  viewing  the  issue,  no  choice  was  left  but  to  call  out  the 
war  power  of  the  government ;  and  so  to  resist  force  employed 
for  its  destruction,  by  force  for  its  preservation." 

Passing  tersely  over  the  secession  of  Virginia,  and  the 
circumstances  of  violence  and  deceit  by  which  it  had 
18 


274  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

been  effected,  and  exposing  the  unjustness  and  hollow- 
ness  of  Kentucky's  "neutrality/'  the  President  gave  a 
brief  explanation  of  the  reasons  leading  to  the  suspen 
sion  of  the  "habeas  corpus  act;"  and  then  offered  the 
following  suggestions  as  to  the  measures  deemed  neces 
sary  for  the  immediate  work  in  hand  : 

"  It  is  now  recommended  that  you  give  the  legal  means  for 
making  this  contest  a  short  and  decisive  one ;  that  you  place 
at  the  control  of  the  government  for  the  work,  at  least  four  hun 
dred  thousand  men,  and  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  That 
number  of  men  is  about  one-tenth  of  those  of  proper  ages,  within 
the  regions  where,  apparently,  all  are  willing  to  engage  ;  and  the 
sum  is  less  than  a  twenty-third  part  of  the  money  value  owned 
by  the  men  who  seem  ready  to  devote  the  whole.  A  debt  of 
six  hundred  million  dollars  now,  is  a  less  sum  per  head  than 
was  the  debt  of  our  Revolution  when  we  came  out  of  that 
struggle;  and  the  money  value  in  the  country  now  bears  even 
a  greater  proportion  to  what  it  was  then,  than  does  the  popula 
tion.  Surely  each  man  has  as  strong  a  motive  now  to  preserve 
our  liberties,  as  each  had  then  to  establish  them. 

"A  right  result,  at  this  time,  will  be  worth  more  to  the  world 
than  ten  times  the  men  and  ten  times  the  money.  The  evidence 
reaching  us  from  the  country  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  material 
for  the  work  is  abundant,  and  that  it  needs  only  the  hand  of 
legislation  to  give  it  legal  sanction,  and  the  hand  of  the  Execu 
tive  to  give  it  practical  shape  and  efficiency.  One  of  the  greatest 
perplexities  of  the  government  is  to  avoid  receiving  troops 
faster  than  it  can  provide  for  them.  In  a  word,  the  people  will 
save  their  government,  if  the  government  itself  will  do  its  part 
only  indifferently  well." 

He  then  adverted  to  the  abstract  question  of  seces 
sion,  denying  its  pretensions  with  a  pungency  and 
logical  force  peculiarly  his  own  : 


THE   EXTRA   SESSION   OF   CONGRESS.  275 

"It  might  seem;  at  first  thought,  to  be  of  little  difference 
whether  the  present  movement  at  the  South  be  called  '  seces 
sion7  or  'rebellion.'  The  movers,  however,  well  understand  the 
difference.  At  the  beginning,  they  knew  they  could  never 
raise  their  treason  to  any  respectable  magnitude  by  any  name 
which  implies  violation  of  law.  They  knew  their  people  pos 
sessed  as  much  of  moral  sense,  as  much  of  devotion  to  law  and 
order,  and  as  much  pride  in  and  reverence  for  the  history  and 
government  of  their  common  country,  as  any  other  civilized 
and  patriotic  people.  They  knew  they  could  make  no  ad 
vancement  directly  in  the  teeth  of  these  strong  and  noble 
sentiments.  Accordingly,  they  commenced  by  an  insidious 
debauching  of  the  public  mind.  They  invented  an  ingenious 
sophism,  which,  if  conceded,  was  followed  by  perfectly  logical 
steps,  through  all  the  incidents,  to  the  complete  destruction  of 
the  Union.  The  sophism  itself  is,  that  any  State  of  the  Union 
may,  consistently  with  the  national  Constitution,  and  therefore 
lawfully  and  peacefully,  withdraw  from  the  Union,  without  the 
consent  of  the  Union  or  of  any  other  State.  The  little  disguise 
that  the  supposed  right  is  to  be  exercised  only  for  just  cause, 
themselves  to  be  the  sole  judges  of  its  justice,  is  too  thin  to 
merit  any  notice. 

"  With  rebellion,  thus  sugar-coated,  they  have  been  drugging 
the  public  mind  of  their  section  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and 
until,  at  length,  they  have  brought  many  good  men  to  a  willing 
ness  to  take  up  arms  against  the  government  the  day  after  some 
assemblage  of  men  have  enacted  the  farcical  pretence  of  taking 
their  State  out  of  the  Union,  who  could  have  been  brought  to 
no  such  thing  the  day  before. 

"  This  sophism  derives  much,  perhaps  the  whole  of  its  cur 
rency,  from  the  assumption  that  there  is  some  omnipotent  and 
sacred  supremacy  pertaining  to  a  State — to  each  State  of  our 
Federal  Union.  Our  States  have  neither  more  nor  less  power 
than  that  reserved  to  them  in  the  Union  by  the  Constitution — 
no  one  of  them  ever  having  been  a  State  out  of  the  Union. 


276  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  original  ones  passed  into  the  Union  even  before  they  cast 
off  their  British  colonial  dependence ;  and  the  new  ones  each 
came  into  the  Union  directly  from  a  condition  of  dependence, 
excepting  Texas.  And  even  Texas,  in  its  temporary  inde 
pendence,  was  never  designated  a  State.  The  new  ones  only 
took  the  designation  of  States  on  coming  into  the  Union,  while 
that  name  was  first  adopted  by  the  old  ones  in  and  by  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Therein  the  'United  Colonies' 
were  declared  to  be  '  Free  and  independent  States ;'  but,  even 
then,  the  object  plainly  was  not  to  declare  their 'independence 
of  one  another,  or  of  the  Union,  but  directly  the  contrary ;  as 
their  mutual  pledge  and  their  mutual  action  before,  at  the  time< 
and  afterwards,  abundantly  show.  The  express  plighting  of 
faith  by  each  and  all  of  the  original  thirteen  in  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,  two  years  later,  that  the  Union  shall  be  per 
petual,  is  most  conclusive.  Having  never  been  States,  either 
in  substance  or  in  name,  outside  of  the  Union,  whence  this 
magical  omnipotence  of  '  State  rights,'  asserting  a  claim  of 
power  to  lawfully  destroy  the  Union  itself?  Much  is  said 
about  the  'sovereignty'  of  the  States  ;  but  the  word  even  is 
not  in  the  national  Constitution — nor,  as  is  believed,  in  any  of 
the  State  constitutions.  "What  is  'sovereignty,'  in  the  political 
sense  of  the  term  ?  Would  it  be  far  wrong  to  define  it,  'A  po 
litical  community  without  a  political  superior?'  Tested  by 
this,  no  one  of  our  States,  except  Texas,  ever  was  a  sove 
reignty.  And  even  Texas  gave  up  the  character  on  coming 
into  the  Union ;  by  which  act  she  acknowledged  the  Constitu-( 
tion  of  the  United  States,  and  the  laws  and  treaties  of  the  United] 
States  made  in  pursuance  of  the  Constitution,  to  be  for  her  the' 
supreme  law  of  the  land.  The  States  have  their  status  in  the 
Union,  and  they  have  no  other  legal  status.  If  they  break 
from  this,  they  can  only  do  so  against  law,  and  by  revolution. 
The  Union,  and  not  themselves  separately,  procured  their  in 
dependence  and  their  liberty.  By  conquest  or  purchase,  the 
Union  gave  each  of  them  whatever  of  independence  or  liberty 


THE   EXTRA   SESSION   OF    CONGRESS.  277 

it  lias.  The  Union  is  older  than  any  of  the  States,  and,  in  fact, 
it  created  them  as  States.  Originally  some  independent  colo 
nies  made  the  Union — and,  in  turn,  the  Union  threw  off  their 
old  dependence  for  them,  and  made  them  States  such  as  they 
are.  Not  one  of  them  ever  had  a  State  constitution  indepe.n- 
dent  of  the  Union.  Of  course,  it  is  not  forgotten  that  all  the 
new  States  framed  their  constitutions  before  they  entered 
the  Union:  nevertheless,  dependent  upon  and  preparatory  to 
coming  into  the  Union. 

"  Unquestionably  the  States  have  the  powers  and  rights  re 
served  to  them  in  and  by  the  national  Constitution ;  but  among 
these,  surely,  are  not  included  all  conceivable  powers,  however 
mischievous  or  destructive ;  but,  at  most;  such  only  as  were 
known  in  the  world  at  the  time  as  governmental  powers — 
and  certainly  a  power  to  destroy  the  government  itself,  had 
never  been  known  as  a  governmental,  as  a  merely  administra 
tive  power.  This  relative  matter  of  national  power  and  State 
rights,  as  a  principle,  is  no  other  than  the  principle  of  generality 
and  locality.  Whatever  concerns  the  whole  should  be  confided 
to  the  whole — to  the  General  Government ;  while  whatever  con 
cerns  only  the  State,  should  be  left  exclusively  to  the  State. 
This  is  all  there  is  of  original  principle  about  it.  Whether  the 
national  Constitution,  in  defining  boundaries  between  the  two, 
has  applied  the  principle  with  exact  accuracy,  is  not  to  be 
questioned.  We  are  all  bound  by  that  defining  without 
question. 

"  What  is  now  combated,  is  the  position  that  secession  is 
consistent  with  the  Constitution — is  lawful  and  peaceful.  It  is 
not  contended  that  there  is  any  express  law  for  it ;  and  nothing 
should  ever  be  implied  as  law  which  leads  to  unjust  or  absurd 
consequences.  The  nation  purchased  with  money  the  countries 
out  of  which  several  of  these  States  were  formed ;  is  it  just  that 
they  shall  go  off  without  leave  and  without  refunding  ?  The 
nation  paid  very  large  sums  (in  the  aggregate,  I  believe,  nearly 
a  hundred  millions)  to  relieve  Florida  of  the  aboriginal  tribes ; 


278  THE    LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

is  it  just  that  she  shall  now  be  off  without  consent,  or  without 
making  any  return  ?  The  nation  is  now  in  debt  for  money 
applied  to  the  benefit  of  these  so-called  seceding  States  in 
common  with  the  rest ;  is  it  just  either  that  creditors  shall  go 
unpaid,  -or  the  remaining  States  pay  the  whole  ?  A  part  of  the 
present  national  debt  was  contracted  to  pay  the  old  debts  of 
Texas;  is  it  just  that  she  shall  leave  and  pay  no  part  of  this 
herself? 

''Again,  if  one  State  may  secede,  so  may  another ;  and  when 
all  shall  have  seceded,  none  is  left  to  pay  the  debts.  Is  this 
quite  just  to  creditors?  Did  we  notify  them  of  this  sage  view 
of  ours  when  we  borrowed  their  money  ?  If  we  now  recognize 
this  doctrine  by  allowing  the  seceders  to  go  in  peace,  it  is 
difficult  to  see  what  we  can  do  if  others  choose  to  go,  or  to 
extort  terms  upon  which  they  will  promise  to  remain. 

"  The  seceders  insist  that  our  Constitution  admits  of  secession. 
They  have  assumed  to  make  a  national  constitution  of  their 
own,  in  which,  of  necessity,  they  have  either  discarded  or  re 
tained  the  right  of  secession,  as  they  insist  it  exists  in  ours.  If 
they  have  discarded  it,  they  thereby  admit  that,  on  principle, 
it  ought  not  to  be  in  ours.  If  they  have  retained  it,  by  their 
own  construction  of  ours,  they  show  that  to  be  consistent  they 
must  secede  from  one  another  whenever  they  shall  find  it  the 
easiest  way  of  settling  their  debts,  or  effecting  any  other  selfish 
or  unjust  object.  The  principle  itself  is  one  of  disintegration, 
and  upon  which  no  government  can  possibly  endure. 

"  If  all  the  States  save  one  should  assert  the  power  to  drive 
that  one  out  of  the  Union,  it  is  presumed  the  whole  class  of 
seceder  politicians  would  at  once  deny  the  power,  and  denounce 
the  act  as  the  greatest  outrage  upon  State  rights.  But  suppose 
that  precisely  the  same  act,  instead  of  being  called  '  driving  the 
one  out,'  should  be  called  '  the  seceding  of  the  others  from  that 
one,'  it  would  be  exactly  what  the  seceders  claim  to  do ;  unless, 
indeed,  they  make  the  point  that  the  one,  because  it  is  a 
minority,  may  rightfully  do  what  the  others,  because  they  are 


EXTRA    SESSION   OF    CONGRESS.  279 

a  majority,  may  not  rightfully  do.  These  politicians  are  subtile 
and  profound  on  the  rights  of  minorities.  They  are  not  partial 
to  that  power  which  made  the  Constitution,  and  speaks  from 
the  preamble,  calling  itself  '  We,  the  people.' 

"It  may  well  be  questioned  whether  there  is  to-day  a 
majority  of  the  legally  qualified  voters  of  any  State,  except, 
perhaps,  South  Carolina,  in  favor  of  disunion.  There  is  much 
reason  to  believe  that  the  Union  men  are  the  majority  in  many, 
if  not  in  every  other  one  of  the  so-called  seceded  States.  The 
contrary  has  not  been  demonstrated  in  any  one  of  them.  It  is 
ventured  to  affirm  this  even  of  Yirginia  and  Tennessee ;  for  the 
result  of  an  election  held  in  military  camps,  where  the  bayonets 
are  all  on  one  side  of  the  question  voted  upon,  can  scarcely  be 
considered  as  demonstrating  popular  sentiment.  At  such  an 
election,  all  that  large  class  who  are  at  once  for  the  Union  and 
against  coercion  would  be  coerced  to  vote  against  the  Union. 

"  It  may  be  affirmed,  without  extravagance,  that  the  free 
institutions  we  enjoy  have  developed  the  powers  and  improved 
the  condition  of  our  whole  people  beyond  any  example  in  the 
world.  Of  this  we  now  have  a  striking  and  impressive  illustra 
tion.  So  large  an  army  as  the  government  has  now  on  foot 
was  never  before  known  without  a  soldier  in  it  but  who  had 
taken  his  place  there  of  his  own  free  choice.  But  more  than 
this ;  there  are  many  single  regiments  whose  members,  one  and 
another,  possess  full  practical  knowledge  of  all  the  arts,  sciences, 
professions,  and  whatever  else,  whether  useful  or  elegant,  is 
known  in  the  world;  and  there  is  scarcely  one  from  which 
there  could  not  be  selected  a  President,  a  Cabinet,  a  Congress, 
and  perhaps  a  court,  abundantly  competent  to  administer  the 
government  itself.  Nor  do  I  say  this  is  not  true  also  in  the 
army  of  our  late  friends,  now  adversaries  in  this  contest ;  but 
if  it  is,  so  much  better  the  reason  why  the  government  which 
has  conferred  such  benefits  on  both  them  and  us  should  not 
be  broken  up.  Whoever,  in  any  section,  proposes  to  abandon 
such  a  government,  would  do  well  to  consider  in  deference  to 


280  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

what  principle  it  is  that  lie  does  it ;  what  better  he  is  likely  to 
get  in  its  stead  ;  whether  the  substitute  will  give,  or  be  intended 
to  give,  so  much  of  good  to  the  people  ?  There  are  some  fore- 
shado wings  on  this  subject.  Our  adversaries  have  adopted 
some  declarations  of  independence,  in  which,  unlike  the  good 
old  one,  penned  by  Jefferson,  they  omit  the  words,  'all  men  are 
created  equal.'  Why  ?  They  have  adopted  a  temporary 
national  constitution,  in  the  preamble  of  which,  unlike  our 
good  old  one,  signed  by  Washington,  they  omit  'We,  the 
people,'  and  substitute,  '  We,  the  deputies  of  the  sovereign  and 
independent  States.'  Why?  Why  this  deliberate  pressing 
out  of  view  the  rights  of  men  and  the  authority  of  the 
people  ? 

"This  is  essentially  a  people's  contest.  On  the  side  of  the 
Union  it  is  a  struggle  for  maintaining  in  the  world  that  form 
and  substance  of  government  whose  leading  object  is  to  elevate 
the  condition  of  men  ;  to  lift  artificial  weights  from  all  shoulders ; 
to  clear  the  paths  of  laudable  pursuits  for  all ;  to  afford  all  an 
unfettered  start  and  a  fair  chance  in  the  race  of  life.  Yielding 
to  partial  and  temporary  departures,  from  necessity,  this  is  the 
leading  object  of  the  government  for  whose  existence  we  con 
tend. 

"  I  am  most  happy  to  believe  that  the  plain  people  under 
stand  and  appreciate  this.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  while  in 
this  the  government's  hour  of  trial,  large  numbers  of  those  in 
the  army  and  navy  who  have  been  favored  with  the  offices 
have  resigned  and  proved  false  to  the  hand  which  had  pampered 
them,  not  one  common  soldier  or  common  sailor  is  known  to 
have  deserted  his  flag. 

"Great  honor  is  due  to  those  officers  who  remained  true, 
despite  the  example  of  their  treacherous  associates;  but  the 
greatest  honor,  and  most  important  fact  of  all,  is  the  unanimous 
firmness  of  the  common  soldiers  and  common  sailors.  To  the 
last  man,  so  far  as  known,  they  have  successfully  resisted  the 
traitorous  efforts  of  those  whose  commands  but  an  hour  before 


THE   EXTRA   SESSION   OF   CONGRESS.  281 

they  obeyed  as  absolute  law.  This  is  the  patriotic  instinct  of 
plain  people.  They  understand,  without  an  argument,  that 
the  destroying  the  government  which  was  made  by  Washington, 
means  no  good  to  them. 

"  Our  popular  government  has  often  been  called  an  experi 
ment.  Two  points  in  it  our  people  have  already  settled — the 
successful  establishing  and  the  successful  administering  of  it. 
One  still  remains — its  successful  maintenance  against  a  formi 
dable  internal  attempt  to  overthrow  it.  It  is  now  for  them  to 
demonstrate  to  the  world  that  those  who  can  fairly  carry  an 
election  can  also  suppress  a  rebellion ;  that  ballots  are  the 
rightful  and  peaceful  successors  of  bullets ;  and  that  when 
ballots  have  fairly  and  constitutionally  decided,  there  can  be 
no  successful  appeal  back  to  bullets;  that  there  can  be  no 
successful  appeal,  except  to  ballots  themselves,  at  succeeding 
elections.  Such  will  be  a  great  lesson  of  peace ;  teaching  men 
that  what  they  cannot  take  by  an  election,  neither  can  they 
take  by  a  war ;  teaching  all  the  folly  of  being  the  beginners  of 
a  war. 

"  Lest  there  be  some  uneasiness  in  the  minds  of  candid  men 
as  to  what  is  to  be  the  course  of  the  government  towards  the 
southern  States  after  the  rebellion  shall  have  been  suppressed, 
the  Executive  deems  it  proper  to  say,  it  will  be  his  purpose 
then,  as  ever,  to  be  guided  by  the  Constitution  and  the  laws ; 
and  that  he  probably  will  have  no  different  understanding  of 
the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Federal  Government  relatively  to 
the  rights  of  the  States  and  the  people  under  the  Constitution 
tLan  that  expressed  in  the  inaugural  address. 

"  He  desires  to  preserve  the  government,  that  it  may  be  ad 
ministered  for  all,  as  it  was  administered  by  the  men  who  made 
it.  Loyal  citizens  everywhere  have  the  right  to  claim  this  of 
their  government,  and  the  government  has  no  right  to  with 
hold  or  neglect  it.  It  is  not  perceived  that  in  giving  it  there 
is  any  coercion,  any  conquest,  or  any  subjugation,  in  any  just 
sense  of  those  terms. 

"  The  Constitution  provides,  and  all  the  States  have  accepted 


282  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM!   LINCOLN. 

the  provision,  that  '  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every 
State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form  of  Government.'  But 
if  a  State  may  lawfully  go  out  of  the  Union,  having  done  so  it 
may  also  discard  the  republican  form  of  Government ;  so  that 
to  prevent  its  going  out  in  as  indispensable  means  to  the  end 
of  maintaining  the  guarantee  mentioned ;  and  when  an  end  is 
lawful  and  obligatory,  the  indispensable  means  to  it  are  also 
lawful  and  obligatory. 

"It  was  with  the  deepest  regret  that  the  Executive  found  the 
duty  of  employing  the  war  power  in  defence  of  the  government 
forced  upon  him.  He  could  but  perform  this  duty  or  surrender 
the  existence  of  the  government.  No  compromise  by  public 
servants  could  in  this  case  be  a  cure ;  not  that  compromises  are 
not  often  proper,  but  that  no  popular  government  can  long 
survive  a  marked  precedent  that  those  who  carry  an  election 
can  only  save  the  government  from  immediate  destruction  by 
giving  up  the  main  point  upon  which  the  people  gave  the 
election.  The  people  themselves,  and  not  their  servants,  can 
safely  reverse  their  own  deliberate  decisions. 

"As  a  private  citizen,  the  Executive  could  not  have  consented 
that  these  institutions  shall  perish ;  much  less  could  he,  in 
betrayal  of  so  vast  and  so  sacred  a  trust  as  these  free  people 
have  confided  to  him.  He  felt  that  he  had  no  moral  right  to 
shrink,  or  even  to  count  the  chances  of  his  own  life,  in  what 
might  follow.  In  full  view  of  his  great  responsibility  he  has 
so  far  done  what  he  has  deemed  his  duty.  You  will  now, 
according  to  your  own  judgment,  perform  yours.  He  sincerely 
hopes  that  your  views  and  your  action  may  so  accord  with  his 
as  to  assure  all  faithful  citizens  who  have  been  disturbed  ia 
their  rights  of  a  certain  and  speedy  restoration  to  them,  under 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws. 

"And  having  thus  chosen  our  course,  without  guile  and  with 
pure  purpose,  let  us  renew  our  trust  in  God,  and  go  forward 
without  fear  and  with  manly  hearts. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  July  4,  1861." 


THE   EXTRA   SESSION    OF   CONGRESS.  283 

Congress  imitated  the  President  in  confining  its  atten 
tion  exclusively  to  the  rebellion  and  the  means  for  its 
suppression;  the  general  sentiment  of  both  Houses  fully 
sustaining  the  President  in  the  steps  he  had  already 
taken. 

Bills  were  passed^ authorizing  him  to  accept  the  services 
of  half  a  million  of  volunteers,  and  placing  five  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  at  the  disposal  of  the  government 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  war ;  a  resolution,  offered  by 
McClernand,  of  Illinois,  pledging  the  House  to  vote  any 
amount  of  money  and  any  number  of  men  necessary  to 
suppress  the  rebellion,  and  restore  the  authority  of  the 
government,  was  adopted  with  but  five  opposing  votes ; 
and  on  the  22d  of  July,  Mr.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky, 
offered  the  following  resolution,  defining  the  objects  of 
the  war : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Souse  of  Representatives  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  That  the  present  deplorable  civil  war  has 
been  forced  upon  the  country  by  the  disunionists  of  the 
southern  States,  now  in  arms  against  the  constitutional  govern 
ment,  and  in  arms  around  the  capital ;  that  in  this  national 
emergency,  Congress,  banishing  all  feelings  of  mere  passion  or 
resentment,  will  recollect  only  its  duty  to  the  whole  country ; 
that  this  war  is  not  waged  on  their  part  in  any  spirit  of  oppres 
sion,  or  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  or  purpose 
of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  established 
institutions  of  those  States,  but  to  defend  and  maintain  the 
supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  preserve  the  Union  with 
all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several  States  unim 
paired  ;  and  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accomplished,  the 
war  ought  to  cease." 

The  resolution  was  adopted  with  but  two  dissenting 
votes,  and  was  accepted  by  the  whole  country  as  defining 


284  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN". 

the  objects  and  limiting  the  continuance  of  the  war ; 
being  regarded,  also,  with  special  favor  by  the  loyal 
citizens  of  the  border  States,  w^hose  sensitiveness  on  the 
subject  of  slavery  had  been  skilfully  and  zealously 
played  upon  by  the  agents  and  allies  of  the  rebel  Con 
federacy. 

With  certain  modifications,  the  financial  policy  indi 
cated  by  the  President's  message,  was  ultimately  adopt 
ed,  and  a  new  tariff  bill,  designed  to  increase  the  revenue 
from  imports,  and  a  direct  tax  bill  to  raise  twenty  mJ- 
lions  of  dollars,  became  a  law  on  the  2d  of  August.  A 
confiscation  act,  moderate  in  its  provisions,  was  also 
passed  near  the  close  of  the  session.  An  act  legalizing 
the  official  measures  of  the  President,  during  the  recent 
emergency,  received  the  support  of  nearly  every  member 
of  both  Houses. 

Congress  closed  its  extra  session  on  the  6th  of  August, 
having  taken  the  most  vigorous  and  effective  measures 
for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  having  clothed  the 
President  with  even  greater  power  than  he  had  asked 
for;  and  avoided  with  just  fidelity  all  topics  likely 
to  divide  and  weaken  the  loyal  sentiment  of  the  country. 
The  people  cordially  seconded  the  patriotic  action  of 
their  representatives,  and  the  universal  temper  of  the 
country  was  one  of  buoyancy  and  hope.  During  the 
early  part  of  the  summer,  the  rebels  had  been  steadily 
pushing  troops  to  the  borders  of  the  Potomac,  menacing 
the  national  capital  with  capture,  until,  in  the  latter 
part  of  June,  they  had  an  army  of  not  far  from  thirty- 
five  thousand  men,  holding  a  strong  position  along  the 
Bull  Kuii  creek, — its  left  posted  at  Winchester,  and  its 
right  resting  at  Manassas. 


THE  EXTRA   SESSION   OF   CONGRESS.  285 

The  military  movements  hitherto  had  been  mostly 
confined  to  Missouri,  where  the  energetic  General  Lyon 
was  "handling  treason  without  gloves 5"  but  it  was 
not  until  June  that  the  campaign  in  Western  Virginia 
was  fairly  opened  by  the  action  (successful  to  the 
national  arms)  at  Phillipa,  followed  early  in  July  by 
the  victory  of  Rich  Mountain.  In  General  Butler's 
department,  a  movement  was  made  towards  Yorktown, 
which  resulted  in  the  disastrous  affair  of  Big  Bethel. 
But  the  public,  out  of  patience  with  the  apparent  tardi 
ness  of  the  military  commanders,  chafed  by  the  dis 
astrous  results  which  had,  to  a  great  extent,  attended 
what  little  had  been  done,  and  fearful  that  the  golden 
opportunity  for  striking  a  decisive  blow  at  the  rebellion 
would  be  passed  before  the  expiration  of  the  brief  term 
for  which  a  large  portion  of  the  troops  had  enlisted — 
made  so  strong  and  universal  a  demand  for  a  forward 
movement,  that  scheming  politicians  and  tardy  generals 
were  fain  to  yield;  and  the  government  decided  on 
a  grand  advance  of  the  army  upon  the  rebel  position  at 
Manassas. 

On  the  16th  of  July,  the  national  army,  of  about 
thirty  thousand  men,  under  General  McDowell,  moved 
forward  and  attacked  the  enemy  at  Bull  Run,  on  the 
21st,  the  result  being  the  defeat,  with  a  loss  of  four 
hundred  and  eighty  killed,  and  one  thousand  wounded, 
of  our  forces,  who  fell  back  on  Washington  in  the 
greatest  confusion  and  disorder.  Had  the  rebel  forces 
closely  followed  the  panic-stricken  fugitives,  the  capital 
would  have  been  their  easy  prey. 

The  result  of  this  battle  took  the  whole  country 
by  surprise,  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  a  prompt 


286  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  decisive  victory  having  been  universally  entertain 
ed  ;  and  the  actual  issue  first  revealed  to  the  people  the 
prospect  of  a  long  and  bloody  war.  Yet  the  public 
heart  was  not  in  the  least  discouraged.  On  the  con 
trary,  the  effect  was  to  rouse  still  higher  the  courage 
and  determination  of  the  people. 

It  was  now  felt  that  no  possible  solution  remained 
but  one,  to  be  achieved  by  arms,  and  that  the  most 
serious  stage  of  the  contest  was  at  hand.  From  this 
time  onward,  the  history  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administra 
tion  is,  to  a  large  extent,  merged  in  that  of  the  war, 
and  his  most  important  executive  acts  and  orders,  are 
closely  related  to  the  suppression  of  a  revolt  which  sur 
passes,  in  the  magnitude  of  its  proportions  and  of  the 
final  issues  involved,  any  other  recorded  in  authentic 
annals. 

The  most  vigorous  efforts  were  made  to  reorganize 
the  army,  to  increase  its  numbers  by  volunteering,  and 
to  establish  a  footing  for  national  troops  at  various 
points  along  the  rebel  coast.  Fort  Hatteras,  Port 
Royal  and  Ship  Island,  were  taken  on  the  coast,  and 
the  rebels  were  checked  in  Western  Virginia,  Kentucky 
and  Missouri,  States  in  which  the  population  had  from 
the  beginning  of  the  contest  been  divided  in  sentiment 
and  in  action. 

At  this  juncture,  General  Scott  having  resigned  in 
consequence  of  illness  and  advancing  age,  Mr.  Lincoln 
selected  as  his  successor  in  the  chief  command  of 
the  armies,  General  George  B.  McClellan,  whose  success 
in  Western  Virginia  justified  the  choice — to  a  much 
greater  degree  than  did  his  subsequent  efforts. 

His   first  work  was   the    task  of  recruiting  and  re- 


THE   EXTRA    SESSION   OF   CONGRESS.  287 

organizing  the  army  in  and  around  Washington,  for  the 
defence  of  the  capital,  and  preparatory  to  a  fresh  ad 
vance  upon  the  enemy. 

Thus  far  the  government  had  avoided,  in  the  prose 
cution  of  the  war,  as  much  as  possible,  any  measures  in 
regard  to  slavery  which  would  serve  to  excite  the  preju 
dices  of  the  border  States — the  confiscation  act  affecting 
only  those  slaves  who  should  be  "  required  or  permitted" 
by  their  masters  to  render  service  to  the  rebellion.  The 
same  wise  theory  influenced  the  Executive. 

The  question,  however,  "What  shall  we  do  with 
them  ?"  as  applied  to  slaves  coming  as  fugitives  into  our 
camps,  was  one  which  early  began  to  attract  the  atten 
tion  of  our  military  commanders,  and  it  met  its  first 
practical  solution  on  the  27th  of  May,  at  the  hands  of 
General  B.  F.  Butler,  commanding  at  Fortress  Monroe. 
Finding  himself  greatly  embarrassed  by  the  number  of 
slaves  that  were  coming  in  from  the  surrounding  country 
and  seeking  protection  within  the  lines  of  his  camp,  he 
determined  to  regard  them  as  "  contraband  of  war;" 
and,  not  only  that,  he  set  them  to  work  for  the  federal 
government,  at  a  fair  compensation,  against  which  was 
charged  the  expense  of  their  support,  the  relative  value 
to  be  adjusted  thereafter.  This  course  was  approved  by 
the  government ;  and  although  the  policy  of  the  War 
Department  was  exceedingly  ambiguous  and  fonder  upon 
this  subject  from  the  outset,  it  never,  to  its  honor  be  it 
said,  for  a  moment  dreamed  of  a  rendition  of  slaves, 
thus  coming  into  our  hands,  to  their  rebel  masters.  Its 
instructions,  from  the  first,  were  "  to  permit  no  inter 
ference  by  the  persons  under  his  command  with  the 
relations  of  persons  held  to  service  under  the  laws  of 


288  THE   LIFE   OF   ABE  AH  AM   LINCOLN. 

any  State/'  and  also  "  to  refrain  from  surrendering  to 
alleged  masters  any  sucli  persons  who  might  come  within 
his  lines."  Before  the  close  of  August  this  policy  had 
so  broadened  out  that  the  Secretary  of  War  instructed 
General  Butler  to  receive  all  fugitives  coming  into  his 
lines,  whether  of  loyal  or  disloyal  masters — it  being 
proposed,  at  the  same  time,  that  a  record  of  such  fugi 
tives  should  be  kept,  in  order  to  compensate  loyal 
owners  at  the  close  of  hostilities. 

The  same  policy  was  adopted  in  every  part  of  the 
country,  and  all  interference  with  the  internal  institu 
tions  of  any  State  was  expressly  forbidden;  but  the 
government  availed  itself  of  the  services  of  a  portion 
of  the  slaves,  taking  care  fully  to  provide  for  compensa 
tion  to  loyal  masters. 

On  the  31st  of  August,  General  Fremont,  command 
ing  the  Western  Department,  which  embraced  Missouri 
and  a  part  of  Kentucky,  issued  an  order,  proclaiming 
martial  law  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  confiscating  the 
property,  real  and  personal,  of  all  who  were  in  arms 
against  the  United  States,  and  declaring  their  slaves 
free  men.  The  President,  regarding  this  order  as  ex 
ceeding  the  authority  vested  in  himself  by  Congress, 
made  haste  to  rectify  the  error,  which  was  working 
mischief  everywhere  throughout  the  border  States.  On 
the  llth  of  September,  he  accordingly  wrote  to  General 
Fremont,  ordering  a  modification  of  the  objectionable 
clause  so  as  to  make  it  conform  with  the  provisions  of 
the  confiscation  act  of  August  6th,  1861. 

During  all  this  time,  strenuous  efforts  were  made  in 
various  quarters  to  induce  the  President  to  depart  from 
this  policy,  and  not  only  to  proclaim  a  general  emanci- 


THE   EXTRA    SESSION   OF   CONGRESS.  289 

pation  of  all  the  slaves,  but  to  put  arms  in  their 
hands  and  employ  them  in  the  field  against  the  rebels. 
But  "they  were  ineffectual.  The  President,  however, 
true  to  his  conviction  that  the  war  was  "for  the  Union, 
and  for  the  preservation  of  all  the  constitutional  rights 
of  States  and  citizens  of  States  in  the  Union"  adhered 
firmly  and  steadily  to  the  policy  which  the  then  exist 
ing  circumstances  of  the  country  in  his  judgment  ren 
dered  wise  and  necessary.  In  this  action  he  was  fully 
sustained  by  the  public  sentiment  of  the  loyal  States,  as 
well  as  by  the  great  body  of  the  people  in  the  slave 
States  along  the  border.  And  his  course  contributed 
largely,  beyond  doubt,  to  strengthen  the  cause  of  the 
Union  in  these  border  States,  and  especially  to  withdraw 
Tennessee  from  her  hastily-formed  connection  with  the 
rebel  Confederacy. 

The  seizure  of  Messrs.  Slidell  and  Mason,  confederate 
commissioners  to  England,  from  the  deck  of  the  British 
mail-steamer  Trent,  November  7th,  by  Captain  "Wilkes, 
gave  rise  to  much  excitement,  and  threatened  for  a 
while  to  involve  the  country  in  war  with  England  and 
France.  It  was  a  delicate  matter,  but  Mr.  Lincoln, 
with  great  sagacity,  restored  them  to  English  authority, 
on  the  ground  that  Wilkes  should  have  taken  them 
before  a  legal  tribunal,  instead  of  himself  assuming  to 
decide  their  liability  to  capture.  There  were  those 
who,  at  the  time,  considered  this  as  an  unbecoming  con 
cession  ;  but  the  candid,  sober  second-thought  of  the 
people  saw  its  propriety  and  approved  it.  The  effect 
of  the  incident,  under  the  just  and  judicious  course 
adopted  by  the  administration,  was  eminently  favorable 
to  the  United  States,  increasing  the  general  respect  for 

19 


290  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

its  adherence  to  sound  principles  of  public  law,  and 
silencing  effectually  the  slander  that  its  government  was 
too  weak  to  disappoint  or  thwart  a  popular  clamor. 
One  of  the  immediate  and  important  fruits  of  the  dis 
cussion,  was  the  prompt  rejection  of  all  demands  for 
recognizing  the  independence  of  the  Confederate  States. 
In  no  one  act  of  his  life,  perhaps,  did  President  Lin 
coln  exhibit  a  more  conspicuous  instance  of  fidelity  to 
himself,  than  in  this  case. 

" '  It  would  be  difficult,'  says  EEV.  MR.  MOXCURE  D.  Co  WAY, 
for  an  Englishman  to  understand  the  peculiar  trials  of  that  case, 
the  least  part  of  which  related  to  England.  They  can  be  ap 
preciated  only  by  those  who  know  the  history  of  that  political 
party  which,  by  its  alliance  with  the  anti-English  prejudices  of 
the  Irish  in  America,  and  with  the  slavery  interest,  had  so  long 
ruled  at  Washington,  and  which,  deprived  of  its  southern  votes, 
,  was  now  madly  endeavoring  to  promote  a  reaction  by  raising 
a  storm  of  popular  feeling  against  England,  and  of  wrath  against 
the  party  in  power  for,  '  truckling  to  England,'  a  storm  upon 
which  it  hoped  to  ride  into  power.  The  Republicans  and  their 
President  knew  that  the  accession  of  that  party  would  be  the 
restoration  of  slavery  to  supreme  power  in  the  nation.  Some 
idea  of  the  feeling  among  the  Irish  at  the  time  may  be  conveyed 
by  the  following  expression  which  I  heard  from  a  leading  Irish 
man  at  a  public  dinner,  given  to  an  Irish  colonel,  in  Ohio : — 
' Gentlemen,'  he  said,  'the  opinions  which  are  expressed 
throughout  the  country  concerning  this  Trent  affair  afflict  me 
deeply.  I  did  hope  that  the  hour  for  which  we  have  so  long 
prayed  had  arrived,  and  that  we  were  to  have  a  collision  with 
England;  but,  alas!  there  seems  reason  to  believe  that  the  act 
of  Wilkes  is  entirely  legal,  and  that  England  will  not  object 
to  it.'  Undoubtedly  many  of  the  foolish  expressions  among 
Eepublicans  favorable  to  the  capture,  were  due  more  to  a  de 
termination  to  diminish  the  party  capital  which  the  Democracy 


THE   EXTRA   SESSION   OF   CONGRESS.  291 

was  making  out  of  it,  than  to  ignorance  of  the  law,  or  hostility 
to  England.  Nevertheless?  Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  hurricane  to 
withstand.  He  was  for  a  few  days  uncertain  as  to  the  law  in 
the  case :  but  there  came  to  him  a  letter  from  an  old  friend  in 
the  far  west,  in  whose  legal  knowledge  he  had  complete  faith 
— Hon.  Thomas  Ewing — which  said  simply — In  this  affair  of 
the  Trent  we  are  in  the  wrong.  And  before  any  comment  on 
the  event  had  returned  from  England,  the  President  had 
arrived  at  his  decision,  and  was  only  considering  how  the  sur 
render  could  be  made  with  as  little  risk  of  a  Democratic  (pro- 
slavery)  reaction  as  possible.  These  facts  I  have  from  one  who 
was  in  intimate  relation  with  the  President  during  that  affair." 


292  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT. 

The  public  mind  is  gradually  prepared  for  Emancipation. — The  Presi 
dent's  Message  favoring  gradual  Emancipation. — The  Abolition  of 
Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. — General  Hunter's  Emancipation 
Order,  and  its  revocation  by  the  President. — Conference  with  the 
Border  States  Senators. — Orders  from  the  President,  through  the  War 
Department,  relative  to  Slavery. — Letter  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
General  Butler. — Confiscation  Bill. — Greeley's  Letter  to  the  President. 
— The  President's  Reply. — His  reply  to  a  Memorial  from  the  Clergy 
men  of  Chicago. — Letters  of  Charles  Sumner  and  Owen  Lovejoy. — THE 
EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION. — Suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus. — 
Proclamation  of  Freedom,  January  1st,  1863. — Mr.  Carpenter's  "  Inside 
History"  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. — Reminiscences  by  the 
Rev.  M.  D.  Con  way. 

THE  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  convening  for  its  second 
session,  December  2d,  1861,  received  from  the  President 
his  annual  message,  in  which  the  condition  of  the 
country,  and  the  progress  of  the  war  were  clearly  stated ; 
and  the  principles  which  had  guided  the  Executive  in 
his  conduct  of  public  affairs,  were  set  forth  with  great 
distinctness  and  precision. 

It  was  very  evident  from  this  document,  as  well  as 
from  his  official  actions,  that,  as  regarded  the  subject  of 
interference  with  slavery,  the  President,  while  adhering 
strictly  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  passed  by  Congress 
at  its  extra  session,  was  gradually  becoming  convinced 
of  the  inevitable  necessity  of  adopting  a  much  more 
rigorous  policy — as  a  means  of  quelling  the  rebellion — 
than  had  been  contemplated  by  that  act. 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  293 

It  is  true,  as  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  that  when 
Major-General  Fremont,  in  September,  1861,  proclaimed 
universal  emancipation  in  his  military  department  of  Mis 
souri — the  act,  though  applauded  by  the  whole  country, 
and  regarded  by  almost  every  statesman  and  lawyer  as 
a  legitimate  exercise  of  martial  power — was  disapproved 
by  the  President.  But  this  was  because  he  did  not 
consider  it  an  indispensable  military  necessity,  and  con 
sequently  held  it  as  a  violation  of  his  oath  to  support 
the  Constitution  to  permit  it.  In  this,  as  in  all  other 
cases,  where  a  point  of  moral  conviction  was  involved, 
he  was  immovable;  and,  profoundly  mistaken  in  his 
interpretation  of  the  Constitution  as  many  believed 
him  to  be,  yet  his  quiet  firmness  on  the  occasion  com 
manded  respect  even  from  those  who  differed  radically 
with  him  in  regard  to  its  propriety. 

There  was,  also,  equally  evident,  a  corresponding 
advance  of  the  public  mind  in  the  same  direction.  The 
diplomatic  assurance  of  our  Secretary  of  State  to  foreign 
governments,  that  no  change  in  southern  institutions 
was  contemplated,  in  any  event ;  McClellan's  manifesto 
on  the  subject  to  the  Virginians ;  Halleck's  exclusion  of 
fugitive  slaves  from  the  lines  of  the  Army  of  the  West, 
and  the  22d  of  July  resolution  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  were 
no  longer  satisfactory.  During  the  past  few  months, 
aside  from  the  small  class  of  those  who  had  been,  from 
the  first,  radical  emancipationists, — a  large  portion  of 
the  people  had  been  gradually  led  to  the  conviction  that 
some  measure  which  should  free  the  slave  from  the 
condition  in  which  he  was  made  to  support  the  rebel 
cause,  and  which  also  should  allow  of  his  active  employ 
ment  against  that  cause — would  be  a  proper  and  a 


294  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

desirable  exercise  of  the  war-power.  The  resistance 
of  the  rebels  had  been  much  more  vigorous  than  any 
one,  at  the  outset  of  the  war,  had  calculated  upon ;  the 
defeat  at  Bull  Run  had  exasperated  and  aroused  the 
public  mind;  while  the  military  results  thus  far,  had 
not  been  satisfactory,  either  to  the  President  or  to  the 
people.  The  leniency  of  the  government  in  regard  to 
slavery  had  entirely  failed  in  its  first  great  object,  the 
lessening  and  softening  of  the  animosity  of  the  rebels ; 
and  had  even  been  represented  by  the  latter,  to  European 
powers,  as  evidencing  the  intention  of  the  United  States 
to  protect  and  perpetuate  slavery,  by  restoring  the 
authority  of  the  Constitution  which  guaranteed  its  safety. 
It  was,  also,  a  well  ascertained  fact,  that  slaves  were 
freely  employed,  within  the  rebel  lines,  in  building  forti 
fications,  etc.,  thus,  as  well  as  in  other  ways,  contributing 
largely  to  the  strength  of  the  rebellion.  The  whole 
country,  then,  began  to  understand  that  slavery  was  not 
only  the  cause,  but  the  main  strength  of  the  rebellion ; 
and  their  demand  for  its  destruction — as  a  means  of 
shortening  the  war — became  daily  more  and  more  earn 
estly  manifested. 

The  President,  in  his  inaugural  address,  had  foreseen 
this  coming  necessity,  and  consequently  had  avoided 
any  pledge  or  act,  which  under  such  circumstances, 
should  restrict  his  power  to  hasten  its  destruction.  He 
considered  himself  in  this — as  in  all  other  matters — the 
instrument  for  the  faithful  execution  of  the  declared  will 
of  the  people.  At  the  time  of  his  inauguration,  only  seven 
of  the  States  forming  the  Confederacy  had  been  fairly 
swept  into  the  maelstrom  of  secession,  and  of  the  remain 
ing  eight  slave  States,  only  four  were  finally  absorbed.  As 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  205 

the  President,  therefore,  of  an,  as  yet,  undivided  Union, 
Mr.  Lincoln  felt  constrained  to  a  course  of  non-inter 
ference  with  the  relation  of  master  and  slave.  In  his 
opinion,  the  power  vested  in  "him  did  not  authorize  the 
disturbance  of  that  relation  as  a  recognized  institution, 
but  simply  as  a  military  measure,  by  commanders  in 
the  field,  and  for  purely  military  purposes,  in  accordance 
with  the  established  laws  of  war.  Foreseeing  what 
must  come,  if  resistance  to  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  was  long  persisted  in,  he  had  most  earnestly 
endeavored  to  arouse  the  attention  of  the  southern 
people,  to  the  fact  that  the  fate  of  slavery  would,  sooner 
or  later,  inevitably  be  involved  in  the  conflict.  And 
knowing  this,  this  cautious  and  patient  leader  sought, 
with  wise  forethought,  to  reconcile  the  shock  which 
would  thus  be  involved,  with  the  order  and  the  perma 
nent  prosperity  of  the  country  and  the  people. 

It  was  soon  apparent,  as  the  session  of  Congress  pro 
gressed,  that  that  great  deliberative  body  was  also  dis 
posed  to  make  very  considerable  advances  upon  the 
legislation  of  the  extra  session,  and  to  them  the  Presi 
dent,  on  the  6th  of  March,  sent  the  following  message 
on  the  subject  of  aiding  such  slaveholding  States  as 
ass  might  take  measures  to  emancipate  their  slaves,  and 
recommending  the  adoption  of  measures  looking  to 
"  gradual,  and  not  sudden  emancipation." 

"  WASHINGTON,  March  6,  1862. 

"  FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  EEPRE- 
SENTATIVES  : — I  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution 
by  your  honorable  body,  which  shall  be,  substantially,  a3 
follows : 

11  Resolved,  That  the  United  States,  in  order  to  cooperate  with 


296  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

« 

any  State  which  may  adopt  gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  give 
to  such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such  State,  in 
its  discretion,  to  compensate  it  for  the  inconvenience,  public 
and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of  system. 

"If  the  proposition  contained  in  the  resolution  does  not 
meet  the  approval  of  Congress  and  the  country,  there  is  an  end 
of  it.  But  if  it  does  command  such  approval,  I  deem  it  of 
importance  that  the  States  and  people  immediately  interested 
should  be  at  once  distinctly  notified  of  the  fact,  so  that  they 
may  begin  to  consider  whether  to  accept  or  reject  it. 

"  The  Federal  Government  would  find  its  highest  interest  in 
such  a  measure,  as  one  of  the  most  efficient  means  of  self- 
preservation.  The  leaders  of  the  existing  insurrection  enter 
tain  the  hope  that  the  government  will  ultimately  be  forced  to 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  some  part  of  the  disaffected 
region,  and  that  all  the  slave  States  north  of  such  parts 
will  then  say :  'The  Union  for  which  we  have  struggled  being 
already  gone,  we  now  choose  to  go  with  the  southern  section.' 
To  deprive  them  of  this  hope,  substantially  ends  the  rebellion, 
and  the  initiation  of  emancipation  completely  deprives  them  of 
it  as  to  all  the  States  initiating  it. 

"  The  point  is  not  that  all  the  States  tolerating  slavery  would 
very  soon,  if  at  all,  initiate  emancipation,  but  that  while 
the  offer  is  equally  made  to  all,  the  more  northern  shall,  by 
such  initiation,  maka  it  certain  to  the  more  southern  that 
in  no  event  will  the  former  ever  join  the  latter  in  their 
proposed  confederacy.  I  say  'initiation,'  because,  in  my  judg 
ment,  gradual  and  not  sudden  emancipation  is  better  for  all. 
In  the  mere  financial  or  pecuniary  view,  any  member  of 
Congress,  with  the  census  tables  and  the  Treasury  report  before 
him,  can  readily  see  for  himself,  how  very  soon  the  current 
expenditures  of  this  war  would  purchase,  at  a  fair  valuation, 
all  the  slaves  in  any  named  State. 

"  Such  a  proposition  on  the  part  of  the  general  government 
sets  up  no  claim  of  a  right  by  Federal  authority  to  interfere 


THE   EMANCIPATION  ACT.  297 

with  slavery  within  State  limits,  referring  as  it  does  the 
absolute  control  of  the  subject  in  each  case  to  the  State  and  its 
people  immediately  interested.  It  is  proposed  as  a  matter 
of  perfectly  free  choice  with  them. 

"  In  the  annual  message  last  December,  I  thought  fit  to  say : 
1  The  Union  must  be  preserved ;  and  hence  all  indispensable 
means  must  be  employed.'  I  said  this  not  hastily,  but  de 
liberately.  War  has  been  made  and  continues  to  be  an  indis 
pensable  means  to  this  end.  A  practical  reacknowledgment  of 
the  national  authority  would  render  the  war  unnecessary,  and 
it  would  at  once  cease.  If,  however,  resistance  continues,  the 
war  must  also  continue,  and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  all  the 
incidents  which  may  attend  and  all  the  ruin  which  may  follow 
it.  Such  as  may  seem  indispensable,  or  may  obviously  promise 
great  efficiency  toward  ending  the  struggle,  must  and  will 
come. 

"  The  proposition  now  made,  though  an  offer  only,  I  hope  it 
may  be  esteemed  no  offence  to  ask  whether  the  pecuniary  con 
sideration  tendered  would  not  be  of  more  value  to  the  States 
and  private  persons  concerned,  than  are  the  institutions  and 
property  in  it,  in  the  present  aspect  of  affairs. 

"  While  it  is  true  that  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  resolu 
tion  would  be  merely  initiatory,  and  not  within  itself  a  practical 
measure,  it  is  recommended  in  the  hope  that  it  would  soon  lead 
to  important  practical  results.  In  full  view  of  my  great 
responsibility  to  my  God  and  to  my  country,  I  earnestly  beg 
the  attention  of  Congress  and  the  people,  to  the  subject. 

"  March  6,  1862.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

The  general  feeling  of  the  country,  at  this  juncture, 
was  in  harmony  with  the  tone  of  this  message.  The 
people,  still  disposed  to  exhaust  every  right  and  lawful 
means  to  withdraw  the  people  of  the  South  from  the 
disastrous  war  into  which  they  had  been  plunged  by 
heir  leaders,  welcomed  this  suggestion  of  the  President 


298  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

as  likely  to  produce  that  result,  if  any  effort  in  that 
direction  could. 

The  friendly  portion  of  the  English  press,  likewise, 
indorsed  it  as  a  "  fair,  moderate,  and  magnanimous 
policy,"  in  bright  contrast  with  the  gloomy  action  of 
the  rebel  authorities. 

Mi.  Conkling,  of  New  York,  prompted  by  this  recom 
mendation  of  the  Executive,  introduced,  a  few  days 
after,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  resolve  which 
thus  embodied  the  emancipation  views  of  the  message. 

"Resolved,  &c.,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate 
with  any  State  which  may  adopt  gradual  abolishment  of 
slavery,  giving  to  such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such 
State  in  its  discretion,  to  compensate  for  the  inconveniences, 
public  and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of  system." 

This  was  vehemently  opposed  by  the  rebel-sympathiz 
ing  members,  but  was  finally  adopted  by  a  large  vote,  and 
was  approved  by  the  President,  April  10th.  The 
resolve  was  generally  regarded  merely  as  an  experiment, 
but  its  passage  was  undoubtedly  an  important  step  in 
the  development  of  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  fast 
taking  hold  of  the  minds  of  all  loyalists. 

When,  therefore,,  early  in  April  following,  a  bill  was 
introduced  into  the  Senate,  abolishing  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  with  compensation  to  loyal  owners, 
with  an  amendment,  directing  that  those  thus  set  free 
should  be  colonized  out  of  the  United  States,*  it  was 
passed  by  a  large  majority,  and  was  promptly  approved 
by  President  Lincoln  in  a  special  message,  in  which  he 
said — 

*  This  provision  was  subsequently  repealed  June  29,  1863. 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  299 

"  I  have  never  doubted  the  constitutional  authority  of  Con 
gress  to  abolish  slavery  in  this  District ;  and  I  have  ever 
desired  to  see  the  national  capital  freed  from  the  institution  in 
some  satisfactory  way.  Hence  there  has  never  been,  in  my 
mind,  any  question  upon  the  subject  except  the  one  of  expe 
diency,  arising  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances.  If  there  be 
matters  within  and  about  this  act  which  might  have  taken  a 
course  or  shape  more  satisfactory  to  my,  judgment,  I  do 
not  attempt  to  specify  them.  I  am  gratified  that  the  two  prin 
ciples  of  compensation  and  colonization  are  both  recognized 
and  practically  applied  in  the  act." 

On  the  9th  of  May,  General  Hunter,  commanding 
the  Department  of  the  South,  issued  the  following  order, 
declaring  all  the  slaves  within  that  department  to  be 
thenceforth  "  forever  free." 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  SOUTH,  > 
HILTON  HEAD,  S.  C.,  May  9,  1862.      f 

"  [GENERAL  ORDERS,  No.  11.] 

"  The  three  States  of  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina, 
comprising  the  military  Department  of  the  South,  having  de 
liberately  declared  themselves  no  longer  under  the  protection 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  having  taken  up  arms 
against  the  said  United  States,  it  becomes  a  military  necessity 
to  declare  them  under  martial  law.  This  was  accordingly  done 
on  the  25th  day  of  April,  1862.  Slavery  and  martial  law,  in 
a  free  country,  are  altogether  incompatible.  The  persons  in 
these  three  States — Georgia,  Florida  and  South  Carolina — 
heretofore  held  as  slaves,  are  therefore  declared  forever  free. 

"DAVID  HUNTER,  Major- General  Commanding. 
"Official: 

"  ED.  "W.  SMITH,  Acting  Assistant  Adft-  General." 

» 
This  was  confessedly  based,  not  upon  any   alleged 


300  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

military  necessity,  but  upon  a  theoretical  incompati 
bility  between  slavery  and  martial  law.  The  President 
thereupon  at  once  issued  a  proclamation,  in  which, 
after  declaring  any  such  declaration  on  the  part  of 
General  Hunter,  or  any  other  commander,  to  be  wholly 
unauthorized  and  void,  he  thus  continued : 

"  I  further  make  known,  that,  whether  it  be  competent  for 
me,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  to  declare  the 
slaves  of  any  State  or  States  free ;  and  whether,  at  any  time,  or 
in  any  case,  it  shall  have  become  a  necessity  indispensable  to 
the  maintainance  of  the  government  to  exercise  such  supposed 
power;  are  questions  which,  under  my  responsibility,  I  reserve 
to  myself,  and  which  I  cannot  feel  justified  in  leaving  to  the 
decision  of  commanders  in  the  field. 

11  These  are  totally  different  questions  from  those  of  police 
regulations  in  armies  or  in  camps. 

"  On  the  sixth  day  of  March  last,  by  a  special  message,  I 
recommended  to  Congress^the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution, 
to  be  substantially  as  follows : 

"  'Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  cooperate  with 
any  State  which  may  adopt  a  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery, 
giving  to  such  State  earnest  expression  to  compensate  for  its 
inconveniences,  public  and  private,  produced  by  such  change 
of  system.' 

"  The  resolution,  in  the  language  above  quoted,  was  adopted 
by  large  majorities  in  both  branches  of  Congress,  and  now 
stands  an  authentic,  definite,  and  solemn  proposal  of  the  nation, 
to  the  States  and  people  most  interested  in  the  subject-matter. 
To  the  people  of  these  States  now  I  mostly  appeal.  I  do  not 
argue — I  beseech  you  to  make  the  argument  for  yourselves. 
You  cannot,  if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the  signs  of  the  times. 

"I  beg  of  you  a  calm  and  enlarged  consideration  of  them, 
ranging,  if  it  may  be,  far  above  partizan  and  personal  politics. 

"  This  proposal  makes  common  cause  for  a  common  object, 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  301 

casting  no  reproaches  upon  any.  It  acts  not  the  Pharisee.  The 
change  it  contemplates  would  come  gently  as  the  dews  of 
heaven,  not  rending  or  wrecking  any  thing.  Will  you  not 
embrace  it  ?  So  much  good  has  not  been  done  by  one  effort  in 
all  past  time,  as  in  the  providence  of  God  it  is  now  your  high 
privilege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not  have  to  lament  that 
you  have  neglected  it. 

11  In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  hereunto  affixed. 
"  Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  nineteenth  day  of 
May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun 
dred   and   sixty-two,    and  of  the   independence   of  the 
United  States  the  eighty-sixth. 

(Signed)  "ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"By  the  President: 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWAKD,  Secretary  of  State." 

This  characteristic  proclamation,  while  it  silenced 
the  clamorous  denunciations  of  the  enemies  of  the  ad 
ministration,  did  not  develop  any  disposition  on  the 
part  of  the  border  States  to  act  upon  the  suggestions, 
or  to  avail  themselves  of  the  aid  which  Congress  had 
offered. 

Fully  impressed,  however,  with  the  great  importance 
of  permanently  detaching  the  border  slave  States,  if 
possible,  from  the  interests  of  the  rebel  Confederacy,  and 
unwilling  to  leave  any  means  untried  which  might 
accomplish  that  desirable  result,  Mr.  Lincoln  sought  a 
personal  Conference  with  the  Representatives  from  these 
States.  He  evidently  looked  forward  to  the  necessity 
of  a  more  radical  and  decisive  policy  in  regard  to 
slavery. 

The  disastrous  Peninsular  campaign  had  produced 
depression  throughout  the  country.  The  war,  it  was 


302  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

felt,  must  somehow  be  ended,  with  the  rebellion  over 
thrown  ;  and  the  employment  of  every  legitimate 
war  measure  was  felt  to  be  now  imperatively  demanded. 
He  was  anxious  that  the  great  change  should  come  as 
lightly  as  possible  on  the  still  loyal  slave  States,  and  it 
was  in  this  spirit  that  the  interview  was  solicited  by 
him.  Meeting  at  the  executive  mansion,  on  the  12th 
of  July,  these  representatives  were  addressed  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  (reading  what  he  had  carefully  prepared  for  the 
occasion)  as  follows  : 

"GENTLEMEN:  After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  now  near, 
I  shall  have  no  opportunity  of  seeing  you  for  several  months. 
Believing  that  you  of  the  border  States  hold  more  power  for 
good  than  any  other  equal  number  of  members,  I  feel  it  a  duty 
which  I  cannot  j  ustifiably  waive  to  make  this  appeal  to  you. 

"  I  intend  no  reproach  or  complaint  when  I  assure  you  that, 
in  my  opinion,  if  you  all  had  voted  for  the  resolution  in  the 
gradual  emancipation  message  of  last  March,  the  war  would 
now  be  substantially  ended.  And  the  plan  therein  proposed  is 
yet  one  of  the  most  potent  and  swift  means  of  ending  it.  Let 
the  States  which  are  in  rebellion  see  definitely  and  certainly 
that  in  no  event  will  the  States  you  represent  ever  join  their 
proposed  confederacy,  and  they  cannot  much  longer  maintain 
the  contest.  But  you'  cannot  divest  them  of  their  hope  to 
ultimately  have  you  with  them  so  long  as  you  show  a  determi 
nation  to  perpetuate  the  institution  within  your  own  States. 
Beat  them  at  elections,  as  you  have  overwhelmingly  done,  and, 
nothing  daunted,  they  still  claim  you  as  their  own.  You  and 
I  know  what  the  lever  of  their  power  is.  Break  that  lever 
before  their  faces,  and  they  can  shake  you  no  more  forever. 

"  Most  of  you  have  treated  me  with  kindness  and  considera 
tion,  and  I  trust  you  will  not  now  think  I  improperly  touch 
what  is  exclusively  your  own,  when,  for  the  sake  of  the  whole 
country,  I  ask,  'Can  you,  for  your  States,  do  better  than  to 


THE    EMANCIPATION    ACT.  303 

take  the  course  I  urge?'  Discarding  punctilio  and  maxims 
adapted  to  more  manageable  time,  and  looking  only  to  the 
unprecedentedly  stern  facts  of  our  case,  can  you  do  better  in 
any  possible  event  ?  You  prefer  that  the  constitutional  rela 
tions  of  the  States  to  the  nation  shall  be  practically  restored 
without  disturbance  of  the  institution  ;  and,  if  this  were  done, 
my  whole  duty  in  this  respect,  under  the  Constitution  and  my 
oath  of  office,  would  be  performed.  But  it  is  not  done,  and  we 
are  trying  to  accomplish  it  by  war.  The  incidents  of  the  war 
cannot  be  avoided.  If  the  war  continues  long,  as  it  must  if 
the  object  be  .not  sooner  attained,  the  institution  in  your  States 
will  be  extinguished  by  mere  friction  and  abrasion — by  the 
mere  incidents  of  the  war.  It  will  be  gone,  and  you  will  have 
nothing  valuable  in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its  value  is  gone 
already.  How  much  better  for  you  and  for  your  people  to 
take  the  step  which  at  once  shortens  the  war,  and  secures  sub 
stantial  compensation  for  that  which  is  sure  to  be  wholly  lost 
in  an}*-  other  event !  How  much  better  to  thus  save  the  money 
which  else  we  sink  forever  in  the  war !  How  much  better  to 
do  it  while  we  can,  lest  the  war,  ere  long,  render  us  pecuniarily 
unable  to  do  it !  How  much  better  for  you  as  seller,  and  the 
nation  as  buyer,  to  sell  out  and  buy  out  that  without  which  the 
war  could  never  have  been,  than  to  sink  both  the  thing  to  be 
sold  and  the  price  of  it,  in  cutting  One  another's  throats ! 

"  I  do  not  speak  of  emancipation  at  once,  but  of  a  decision  at 
once  to  emancipate  gradually.  Room,  in  South  America  for 
colonization  can  be  obtained  cheaply  and  in  abundance,  and 
when  numbers  shall  be  large  enough  to  be  company  and  en 
couragement  for  one  another,  the  freed  people  will  not  be  so 
reluctant  to  go. 

"I  am  pressed  with  a  difficulty  not  yet  mentioned — one 
which  threatens  division  among  those  who,  united,  are  none 
too  strong.  An  instance  of  it  is  known  to  you.  General 
Hunter  is  an  honest  man.  He  was,  and  I  hope  still  is,  my 
friend.  I  valued  him  none  the  less  for  his  agreeing  with  me  in 


304  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  general  wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  freed.  He 
proclaimed  all  men*  free  within  certain  States,  and  I  repudiated 
the  proclamation.  He  expected  more  good  and  less  harm 
from  the  measure  than  I  could  believe  would  follow.  Yet,  in 
repudiating  it,  I  gave  dissatisfaction,  if  not  offence  to  many 
whose  support  the  country  cannot  afford  to  lose.  And  this  is 
not  the  end  of  it.  The  pressure  in  this  direction  is  still  upon 
me,  and  is  increasing.  By  conceding  what  I  now  ask  you  can 
relieve  me,  and,  much  more,  can  relieve  the  country  in  this  im 
portant  point. 

"  Upon  these  considerations,  I  have  again  begged  your  atten 
tion  to  the  message  of  March  last.  Before  leaving  the  Capitol, 
consider  and  discuss  it  among  yourselves.  You  are  patriots 
and  statesmen,  and  as  such,  I  pray  you  consider  this  proposition, 
and,  at  the  least,  commend  it  to  the  consideration  of  your 
States  and  people.  As  you  would  perpetuate  popular  govern 
ment  for  the  best  people  in  the  world,  I  beseech  you  that  you 
do  in  no  wise  ornit  this.  .  Our  common  country  is  in  great 
peril,  demanding  the  loftiest  views  and  boldest  action  to  bring 
a  speedy  relief.  Once  relieved,  its  form  of  government  is 
saved  to  the  world  ;  its  beloved  history  and  cherished  memories 
are  vindicated,  and  its  happy  future  fully  assured  and  rendered 
inconceivably  grand.  To  you,  more  than  to  any  others,  the 
privilege  is  given  to  assure  that  happiness,  and  swell  that 
grandeur,  and  to  link  your  own  names  therewith  forever." 

Twenty  of  the  Senators  and  Eepresentatives  thus  ad 
dressed  replied  in  respectful,  but  decidedly  unfavorable 
terms.  Nine  only  made  friendly  and  approving  responses. 

The  conference,  however,  served  the  most  desirable 
purpose  of  testing  'the  sentiment  of  each  section  of  the 
country,  and  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  more  vigorous 
treatment  of  the  subject  of  slavery  which  the  blind  and 
stubborn  prejudices  of  the  slaveholding  States  were 
rapidly  rendering  inevitable. 


THE   EMANCIPATION    ACT.  305 

This  "more  vigorous  treatment  of  the  subject  of 
slavery,"  on  the  part  of  the  Administration,  was  now 
fairly  commenced  by  the  issue  of  the  following  general 
instructions  from  the  President,  through  the  War 
Office. 

"WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  July  22c?,  1862. 

"  First,  Ordered  that  military  commanders  within  the  States 
of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mis- 
sippi,  Lousiana,  Texas,  and  Arkansas,  in  an  orderly  manner 
seize  and  use  any  property,  real  or  personal,  which  may  be 
necessary  or  convenient  for  their  several  commands,  for  supplies, 
or  for  other  military  purposes ;  and  that  while  property  may 
be  destroyed  for  proper  military  objects,  none  shall  be  destroyed 
in  wantonness  or  malice. 

"  Second.  That  military  and  naval  commanders  shall  employ 
as  laborers,  within  and  from  said  States,  so  many  persons  of 
African  descent  as  can  be  advantageously  used  for  military  or 
naval  purposes,  giving  them  reasonable  wages  for  their  labor. 

"  Third.  That,  as  to  both  property  and  persons  of  African 
descent,  accounts  shall  be  kept  sufficiently  accurate  and  in 
detail,  to  show  quantities  and  amounts,  and  from  whom  both 
property  and  such  persons  shall  have  come,  on  a  basis  upon 
which  compensation  can  be  made  in  proper  cases;  and  the 
several  departments  of  this  government  shall  attend  to  and 
perform  their  appropriate  parts  towards  the  execution  of  these 
orders. 

"  By  order  of  the  President. 

"EowiN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War." 

The  views  of  the  Executive  were  still  further  set 
forth  in  the  reply  of  the  War  Department  to  General 
Butler,  who  had  declined  to  approve  of  the  conduct  of 
his  subordinate,  General  J.  W.  Phelps,  in  organizing 
five  companies  of  negroes,  whom  he  proposed  to  arm  and 
20 


306  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

equip,  upon  the  ground  that  the  President  alone  had 
the  authority  to  employ  Africans  in  arms,  and  that  he 
had  not  indicated  this  purpose. 


DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON  CITY,  July  3,  1862. 

"  GENERAL  :  —  I  wrote  you  last  under  date  of  the  29th  ultimo, 
and  have  now  to  say  that  your  despatch  of  the  18th  ultimo, 
with  the  accompanying  report  of  General  Phelps,  concerning 
certain  fugitive  negroes  that  have  come  to  his  pickets,  has  been 
considered  by  the  President. 

"  He  is  of  opinion  that  under  the  law  of  Congress,  they  can 
not  be  sent  back  to  their  masters  :  that  in  common  humanity 
they  must  not  be  permitted  to  suffer  for  want  of  food,  shelter, 
or  other  necessaries  of  life;  that  to  this  end  they  should 
be  provided  for  by  the  quartermaster's  and  commissary's 
departments,  and  that  those  who  are  capable  of  labor  should  be 
set  to  work  and  paid  reasonable  wages. 

"  In  directing  this  to  be  done,  the  President  does  not  mean. 
at  present,  to  settle  any  general  rule  in  respect  to  slaves  or 
slavery,  but  simply  to  provide  for  the  particular  case  under  the 
circumstances  in  which  it  is  now  presented. 

"  I  am,  General,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
"  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

"MAJOR-GENERAL  B.  F.  BUTLER,' 

"  Commanding,  d?c.,  New  Orleans,  Louisiana" 

The  passage  of  the  Confiscation  Bill,  on  the  17th  of 
July,  as  modified  to  meet  the  views  of  the  President. 
formed  a  very  important  step  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
war.  It  prescribed  definite  penalties  for  the  crime  of 
treason,  —  thus  supplying  a  defect  in  the  existing  laws  of 
the  land  ;  —  gave  the  rebels  distinctly  to  understand  that 
among  these  penalties,  if  they  persisted  in  their  resist 
ance  to  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  would  be 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  307 

the  emancipation  of  their  slaves;  and  authorized  the 
employment,  by  the  President,  of  persons  of  African 
descent,  to  aid  in  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  in 
in  any  way  which  he  might  deem  best  for  the  public 
welfare.  Yet  it  was  still  most  clearly  evident  that  the 
main  object  and  purpose  of  these  measures  was  not  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  but  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
and  the  restoration  of  the  authority  of  the  Constitution. 
On  the  same  day,  (July  17th,)  Congress  adjourned, 
having  adopted  many  other  measures  of  marked  though 
minor  importance,  to  aid  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
Several  Senators  had  been  expelled  for  adherence, 
direct  or  indirect,  to  the  rebel  cause  ;  measures  had  been 
taken  to  remove,  from  the  several  departments  of  the 
government,  employees  more  or  less  openly  in  sympathy 
with  secession ;  Hayti  and  Liberia  were  recognized  as 
independent  republics;  a  treaty  was  negotiated  and 
ratified  with  Great  Britain,  conceding  the  right, 
within  certain  limits,  of  searching  suspected  slavers 
carrying  the  American  Hag,  and  the  most  liberal  grants 
in  men  and  money  were  made  to  the  government  for 
the  prosecution  of  the  war.  The  President  had  ap 
pointed  military  Governors  for  several  of  the  border 
States,  who  were  especially  Enjoined  to  protect  the  loyal 
citizens  and  to  regard  th£m  as  alone  entitled  to  a  voice 

Lti  the  direction  of/eivil  affairs. 
Public  sejitmient  in  the  loyal  States  sustained  the 
ction  of  Congress  and  the  President  as  adapted  to  the 
emergency  and  to  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.     At 
the  same  time  it  was  very  evident  that  the  conviction 
was  rapidly  gaining  ground  that  slavery  was  the  cause 
of  the  rebellion ;   and  that  it  was  this  interest  alone 


308  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

which  gave  unity  and  vigor  to  the  rebel  cause.  A  very 
active  and  influential  party  at  the  North  had  insisted, 
from  the  outset,  that  the  most  direct  way  of  crushing 
the  rebellion  was  by  crushing  slavery,  and  had  urged 
upon  the  President  an  immediate  and  unconditional 
emancipation  policy,  as  the  only  thing  necessary  to  re 
inforce  the  ranks  of  the  Union  armies  with  thousands 
of  enfranchised  slaves,  as  well  as  to  rouse  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  of  the  northern  States  who  needed  this 
stimulus  of  an  appeal  to  their  moral  sentiment.  After 
the  adjournment  of  Congress  these  demands  became  still 
more  clamorous  and  importunate,  and  the  President  was 
urged  to  avail  himself  of  the  Confiscation  Bill,  and  to 
decree  the  instant  liberation  of  every  slave  belonging  to 
a  rebel  master.  These  demands  soon  assumed,  among 
the  more  impatient  and  intemperate  portion  of  the 
friends  of  the  Administration,  a  tone  of  complaint  and 
condemnation;  and  the  President  was  even  charged 
with  culpable  remissness  in  the  discharge  of  duties 
imposed  upon  him  by  the  act  of  Congress.  These 
demands  were  embodied  with  much  force  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  President  by  Hon.  Horace  Greeley,  and 
published  in  the  New  York  Tribune  of  the  19th  of 
August : 

"THE  PRAYER  OF  TWENTY  MILLIONS. 

"To  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States : 

"DEAR  SIR: — I  do  not  intrude  to  tell  you — for  you  must 
know  already — that  a  great  proportion  of  those  who  triumphed 
in  your  election,  and  of  all  who  desire  the  unqualified  suppres 
sion  of  the  rebellion  now  desolating  our  country,  are  sorely 
disappointed  and  deeply  pained  by  the  policy  you  seem  to  be 
pursuing  with  regard  to  the  slaves  of  the  rebels.  I  write  only 


THE   EMANCIPATION    ACT.  309 

to  set  succinctly  and  unmistakably  before  you  what  we  re 
quire,  what  we  think  we  have  a  right  to  expect,  and  of  what 
we  complain. 

"I.  We  require  of  you,  as  the  first  servant  of  the  Republic, 
charged  especially  and  preeminently  with  this  duty,  that  you 
EXECUTE  THE  LAWS.  Most  emphatically  do  we  demand  that 
such  laws  as  have  been  recently  enacted,  which  therefore  may 
fairly  be  presumed,  to  embody  the  present  will  and  to  be  dic 
tated  by  the  present  needs  of  the  Eepublic,  and  which,  after 
due  consideration,  have  received  your  personal  sanction,  shall 
by  you  be  carried  into  full  effect,  and  that  you  publicly  and 
decisively  instruct  your  subordinates  that  such  laws  exist,  that 
they  are  binding  on  all  functionaries  and  citizens,  and  that  they 
are  to  be  obeyed  to  the  letter. 

"  II.  We  think  you  are  strangely  and  disastrously  remiss  in 
the  discharge  of  your  official  and  imperative  duty  with  regard 
to  the  emancipation  provisions  of  the  new  Confiscation  Act. 
Those  provisions  were  designed  to  fight  slavery  with  liberty. 
They  prescribe  that  men  loyal  to  the  Union,  and  willing  to 
shed  their  blood  in  her  behalf,  shall  no  longer  be  held,  with 
the  nation's  consent,  in  bondage  to  persistent,  malignant 
traitors,  who  for  twenty  years  have  been  plotting,  and  for 
sixteen  months  have  been  fighting  to  divide  and  destroy  our 
country.  Why  these  traitors  should  be  treated  with  tender 
ness  by  you,  to  the  prejudices  of  the  dearest  rights  of  loyal 
men,  we  cannot  conceive. 

"  III.  We  think  you  are  unduly  influenced  by  the  councils, 
the  representations,  the  menaces,  of  certain  fossil  politicians 
hailing  from  the  border  States.  Knowing  well  that  the 
heartily,  unconditionally  loyal  portion  of  the  white  citizens 
of  those  States  do  not  expect  nor  desire  that  slavery  shall  be 
upheld  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Union — (for  the  truth  of  which 
we  appeal  not  only  to  every  Republican  residing  in  those 
States,  but  to  such  eminent  loyalists  as  H.  Winter  Davis, 
Parson  Brown  low,  the  Union  Central  Committee  of  Baltimore, 


310  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  to  the  Nashville  Union) — we  ask  you  to  consider  that 
slavery  is  everywhere  the  inciting  cause  and  sustaining  base 
of  treason :  the  most  slaveholding  sections  of  Maryland  and 
Delaware  being  this  day,  though  under  the  Union  flag,  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  rebellion,  while  the  free  labor  portions  of 
Tennessee  and  of  Texas,  though  writhing  under  the  bloody 
heel  of  treason,  are  unconquerably  loyal  to  the  Union.  So 
emphatically  is  this  the  case,  that  a  most  intelligent  Union 
banker  of  Baltimore  recently  avowed  his  confident  belief  that 
a  majority  of  the  present  Legislature  of  Maryland,  though 
elected  as  and  still  professing  to  be  Unionists,  are  at  heart 
desirous  of  the  triumph  of  the  Jeff.  Davis  conspiracy;  and 
when  asked  how  they  could  be  won  back  to  loyalty,  replied  : 
'  Only  by  the  complete  abolition  of  slavery.'  It  seems  to  us 
the  most  obvious  truth,  that  whatever  strengthens  or  fortifies 
slavery  in  the  border  States  strengthens  also  treason,  and 
drives  home  the  wedge  intended  to  divide  the  Union.  Had 
you,  from  the  first,  refused  to  recognize  in  those  States,  as 
here,  any  other  than  unconditional  loyalty — that  which  stands 
for  the  Union,  whatever  may  become  of  slavery— those  States 
would  have  been,  and  would  be,  far  more  helpful  and  less 
troublesome  to  the  defenders  of  the  Union  than  they  have 
been,  or  now  are. 

"IV.  We  think  timid  counsels  in  such  a  crisis  calculated  to 
prove  perilous,  and  probably  disastrous.  It  is  the  duty  of 
a  government  so  wantonly,  wickedly  assailed  by  rebellion  as 
ours  has  been,  to  oppose  force  to  force  in  a  defiant,  dauntless 
spirit.  It  cannot  afford  to  temporize  with  traitors,  nor  with 
semi-traitors.  It  must  not  bribe  them  to  behave  themselves, 
nor  make  them  fair  promises  in  the  hope  of  disarming  their 
causeless  hostility.  Eepresenting  a  brave  and  high-spirited 
people,  it  can  afford  to  forfeit  any  thing  else  better  than  its  own 
self-respect,  or  their  admiring  confidence.  For  our  govern 
ment  even  to  seek,  after  war  has  been  made  on  it,  to  dispel 
the  affected  apprehensions  of  armed  traitors  that  their  cherished 


THE    EMANCIPATION    ACT.  311 

privileges  may  be  assailed  by  it,  is  to  invite  insult  and  encour 
age  hopes  of  its  own  downfall.  The  rush  to  arms  of  Ohio,  In 
diana,  Illinois,  is  the  true  answer  at  once  to  the  rebel  raids  of 
John  Morgan  and  the  traitorous  sophistries  of  Beriah  Magoffin. 

"  Y.  We  complain  that  the  Union  cause  has  suffered,  and  is 
now  suffering  immensely,  from  mistaken  deference  to  rebel 
slavery.  Had  you,  sir,  in  your  inaugural  address,  unmistake- 
ably  given  notice  that,  in  case  the  rebellion,  already  commenced, 
were  persisted  in,  and  your  efforts  to  preserve  the  Union  and 
enforce  the  laws  should  be  resisted  by  armed  force,  you  would 
recognize  no  loyal  person  as  rightfully  held  in  slavery  by  a  traitor, 
we  believe  the  rebellion  would  therein  have  received  a  stagger 
ing,  if  not  a  fatal  blow.  At  that  moment,  according  to  the  re 
turns  of  the  most  recent  elections,  the  Unionists  were  a  large 
majority  of  the  voters  of  the  slave  States.  But  they  were  com 
posed  in  good  part  of  the  aged,  the  feeble,  the  wealthy,  the 
timid — the  young,  the  reckless,  the  aspiring,  the  adventurous, 
had  already  been  largely  lured  by  the  gamblers,  and  negro- 
traders,  the  politicians  by  trade  and  the  conspirators  by  in 
stinct,  into  the  toils  of  treason.  Had  you  then  proclaimed  that 
rebellion  would  strike  the  shackles  from  the  slaves  of  every 
traitor,  the  wealthy  and  the  cautious  would  have  been  supplied 
with  a  powerful  inducement  to  remain  loyal.  As  it  was,  every 
coward  in  the  South  soon  became  a  traitor  from  fear  ;  for  loy 
alty  was  perilous,  while  treason  seemed  comparatively  safe. 
Hence  the  boasted  unanimity  of  the  South — a  unanimity  based 
on  rebel  terrorism  and  the  fact  that  immunity  and  safety  were 
found  on  that  side,  danger  and  probably  death  on  ours.  The 
rebels,  from  the  first,  have  been  eager  to  confiscate,  imprison, 
scourge  and  kill ;  we  have  fought  with  wolves  with  the  devices 
of  sheep.  The  result  is  just  what  might  have  been  expected. 
Tens  of  thousands  are  fighting  in  the  rebel  ranks  to-day,  whose 
original  bias  and  natural  leaning  would  have  led  them  into 
ours. 

"  VI.  We  complain  that  the  Confiscation  Act  which  you  ap- 


312 


THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LIXCOLST. 


proved  is  habitually  disregarded  by  your  generals,  and  that 
no  word  of  rebuke  for  them  from  you  has  yet  reached   the 
public  ear.     Fremont's  proclamation  and  Hunter's  order  favor 
ing  smancipation  were  promptly  annulled  by  you  ;  while  Hal- 
lack's  Number    Three,  forbidding   fugitives   from    slavery  to 
rebels  to  come  within  his  lines — an  order  as  unmilitary  as  in 
human,  and  which  received  the  hearty  approbation   of  every 
traitor  in  America — with  scores  of  like  tendency,  have  never 
provoked  even  your  remonstrance.     We  complain  that  the  of 
ficers  of  your  armies  have  habitually  repelled,  rather  than  in- 
vited.the  approach  of  slaves  who  would  have  gladly  taken  the 
risks  of  escaping  from  their  rebel  masters  to  our  camps,  brino-, 
ing  intelligence  often  of  inestimable  value  to  the  Union  cause. 
We  complain  that  those  who  have  escaped  to  us,  avowing  a 
willingness  to  do  for  us  whatever  might  be  required,  have  been 
brutally   and   madly   repulsed,  and    often   surrendered   to   be 
scourged,  maimed,  and  tortured  by  the  ruffian  traitors  who  pre 
tend  to  own  them.     We  complain  that  a  large  portion  of  our 
regular  army  officers,  with  many  of  the  volunteers,  evince  far 
more  solicitude  to  uphold  slavery  than  to  put  clown  the  rebel 
lion.     And  finally,  we  complain  that  you,  Mr.  President,  elected 
as  a  Eepublican,  knowing  well  what  an  abomination  slavery  is, 
and  how  emphatically  it  is  the  core   and  essence   of  this  atro 
cious  rebellion,  seem  never  to   interfere  with  these  atrocities, 
and  never  give  a  direction  to  your  military  subordinates,  which 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  conceived  in  the  interest  of  slavery 
rather  than  of  freedom. 

"  VII.  Let  me  call  your  attention  to  the  recent  tragedy  in 
New  Orleans,  whereof  the  facts  are  obtained  entirely  through 
pro-slavery  channels.  A  considerable  body  of  resolute,  able- 
bodied  men,  held  in  slavery  by  two  rebel  sugar-planters  in  de 
fiance  of  the  Confiscation  Act  which  you  have  approved,  left 
plantations  thirty  miles  distant  and  made  their  way  to  the 
great  mart  of  the  south-west,  which  they  knew  to  be  in  the  un 
disputed  possession  of  the  Union  forces.  They  made  their 


THE   EMANCIPATION    ACT.  313 

way  safely  and  quietly  through  thirty  miles  of  rebel  territory, 
expecting  to  find  freedom  under  the  folds  of  our  flag. 
Whether  they  had  or  had  not  heard  of  the  passage  of  the  Con 
fiscation  Act,  they  reasoned  logically  that  we  could  not  kill 
them  for  deserting  the  service  of  their  life-long  oppressors,  who 
had  through  treason  become  our  implacable  enemies.  They 
came  to  us  for  liberty  and  protection,  for  which  they  were  will 
ing  to  render  their  best  services ;  they  met  with  hostility,  cap 
tivity  and  murder.  The  barking  of  the  base  curs  of  slavery 
in  this  quarter  deceives  no  one — not  even  themselves.  They 
say,  indeed,  that  the  negroes  had  no  right  to  appear  in  New 
Orleans  armed,  (with  their  implements  of  daily  labor  in  the 
cane-field  ;)  but  no  one  doubts  that  they  would  gladly  have  laid 
these  down  if  assured  that  they  should  be  free.  They  were 
set  upon  and  maimed,  captured  and  killed,  because  they  sought 
the  benefit  of  that  act  of  Congress  which  they  may  not  speci 
fically  have  heard  of,  but  which  was  none  the  less  the  law  of 
the  land — which  they  had  a  clear  right  to  the  benefit  of — which 
it  was  somebody's  duty  to  publish  far  and  wide,  in  order  that 
so  many  as  possible  should  be  impelled  to  desist  from  serving 
rebels  and  the  rebellion,  and  come  over  to  the  side  of  the 
Union.  They  sought  their  liberty  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  laws  of  the  land — they  were  butchered  or  reenslaved  for 
so  doing  by  the  help  of  Union  soldiers  enlisted  to  fight  against 
slaveholding  treason.  It  was  somebody's  fault  that  they  were  so 
murdered — if  others  shall  hereafter  suffer  in  like  manner,  in 
default  of  explicit  and  public  direction  to  your  generals  that 
they  are  to  recognize  and  obey  the  Confiscation  Act,  the  world 
will  lay  the  blame  on  you  Whether  you  will  choose  to  hear 
it  through  future  history  and  at  the  bar  of  God,  I  will  not 
judge  I  can  only  hope. 

"  VIII.  On  the  face  of  this  wide  earth,  Mr.  President,  there  is 
not  one  disinterested,  determined,  intelligent  champion  of  the 
Union  cause  who  does  not  feel  that  all  attempts  to  put  down 
the  rebellion,  and  at  the  same  time  uphold  its  inciting  cause  are 


314  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

preposterous  and  futile — that  the  rebellion,  if  crushed  out  to 
morrow,  would  be  renewed  within  a  year  if  slavery  were  left 
in  full  vigor — that  army  officers  who  remain  this  day  devoted 
to  slavery  can  at  best  be  but  half-way  loyal  to  the  Union — and 
that  every  hour  of  deference  to  slavery  is  an  hour  of  added 
and  deepened  peril  to  the  Union.  I  appeal  to  the  testimony 
of  your  ambassadors  in  Europe.  It  is  freely  at  your  service, 
not  at  mine.  Ask  them  to  tell  you  candidly  whether  the  sub 
serviency  of  your  policy  to  the  slaveholding,  slavery-upholding 
interest,  is  not  the  perplexity,  the  despair  of  statesmen  of  all 
parties,  and  be  admonished  by  the  general  answer ! 

"  XI.  I  close  as  I  began,  with  the  statement  that  what  an  im 
mense  majority  of  the  loyal  millions  of  your  country  require 
of  you  is  a  frank,  declared,  unqualified,  ungrudging  execution 
of  the  laws  of  the  land,  more  especially  of  the  Confiscation 
Act.  That  act  gives  freedom  to  the  slaves  of  rebels  coming 
within  our  lines,  or  whom  those  lines  may  at  any  time  inclose 
— we  ask  you  to  render  it  due  obedience  by  publicly  requiring 
your  subordinates  to  recognize  and  obey  it.  The  rebels  are 
everywhere  using  the  late  anti-negro  riots  in  the  North,  as 
they  have  long  used  your  officers'  treatment  of  negroes  in  the 
South,  to  convince  the  slaves  that  they  have  nothing  to  hope 
from  a  Union  success — that  we  mean  in  that  case  to  sell  them 
into  a  bitter  bondage  to  defray  the  cost  of  the  war.  Let 
them  impress  this  as  a  truth  on  the  great  mass  of  their  ignorant 
and  credulous  bondmen,  and  the  Union  will  never  be  restored 
— never.  We  cannot  conquer  ten  millions  of  people  united  in 
solid  phalanx  against  us,  powerfully  aided  by  northern  sympa- 
zers  and  European  allies.  We  must  have  scouts,  guides,  spies, 
cooks,  teamsters,  diggers  and  choppers  from  the  blacks  of  the 
South,  whether  we  allow  them  to  fight  for  us  or  not  or  whether 
we  shall  be  baffled  and  repelled.  As  one  of  the  millions  who 
would  gladly  have  avoided  this  struggle  at  any  sacrifice  but  that 
of  principle  and  honor,  but  who  now  feels  that  the  triumph  of 
the  Union  is  indispensable  not  only  to  the  existence  of  our 


THE    EMANCIPATION    ACT.  315 

country  but  to  the  well-being  of   mankind,  I  entreat  you  to 
render  a  hearty  and  unequivocal  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the 

land.  Yours, 

"HORACE  GREELEY. 

"  New  York,  August  19,  1862." 

To  this,  President  Lincoln  simply  made  the  following 
inimitable  reply : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  August  22, 1862. 
"HoN.  HORACE  GREELEY: 

''DEAR  SIR — I  have  just  read  yours  of  the  19th  instant,  ad 
dressed  to  myself  through  the  New  York  Tribune. 

"  If  there  be  in  it  any  statements  or  assumptions  of  fact  which 
I  may  know  to  be  erroneous,  I  do  not  now  and  here  controvert 
them. 

"If  there  be  any  inferences  which  I  may  believe  to  be 
falsely  drawn,  I  do  not  now  and  here  argue  against  them. 

"  If  there  be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  dictatorial  tone,  I 
waive  it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend  whose  heart  I  have  always 
supposed  to  be  right. 

"  As  to  the  policy  I  '  seem  to  be  pursuing,'  as  you  say,  I 
have  not  meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt.  I  would  save  the 
Union.  I  would  save  it  in  the  shortest  way  under  the  Consti 
tution. 

"The  sooner  the  national  authority  can  be  restored  the  nearer 
the  Union  will  be — the  Union  as  it  was. 

"  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they 
could  at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them. 

"  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they 
could  at  the  same  time  destroy  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with 
them. 

"  My  paramount  object  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  not  either  to 
save  or  destroy  slavery. 

"If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  1 
would  do  it — if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  1 


316  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

would  do  it — and  if  T  could  do  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving 
others  alone,  I  would  also  do  that. 

"  What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do  because 
I  believe  it  helps  to  save  this  Union,  and  what  I  forbear,  I 
forbear  because  I  do  not  believe  it  would  help  to  save  the 
Union. 

"  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  what  I  am  doing 
hurts  the  cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I  believe  doing 
more  will  help  the  cause. 

"  I  shall  try  to  correct  errors  when  shown  to  be  errors,  and  I 
shall  adopt  new  views  so  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  true 
views. 

"  I  have  here  stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  official  duty, 
and  I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-expressed  personal  wish 
that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  free.  Yours, 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

It  is  impossible  to  mistake  the  President's  meaning  as 
expressed  in  this  letter,  or  to  doubt  the  policy  by  which 
he  expected  to  re-establish  the  authority  of  the  Consti 
tution  over  the  whole  territory  of  the  United  States. 
Regarding  all  the  power  conferred  on  him  by  Congress 
in  regard  to  slavery  as  having  been  conferred  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  him  to  "save  the  Union,"  he  resolved 
to  wield  those  powers  so  as  best,  according  to  his  own 
judgment,  to  aid  in  its  attainment.  He  forbore  there 
fore  for  a  long  time  to  issue  such  a  proclamation  as  he 
was  authorized  to  make  by  the  sixth  section  of  the  Con 
fiscation  Act  of  Congress — awaiting  the  developments  of 
public  sentiment  on  the  subject,  and  being  especially 
anxious  that  when  it  was  issued,  it  should  receive  the 
moral  support  of  the  great  body  of  the  people  of  the 
whole  country  without  regard  to  party  distinctions. 
Seeking  with  assiduity  every  opportunity  of  informing 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  317 

himself  as  to  the  drift  of  public  sentiment  on  this  sub 
ject,  he  submitted  himself  to  his  "public  opinion  baths  f 
received  and  conversed  freely  with  all  who  visited 
and  urged  upon  him  the  adoption  of  their  peculiar  views ; 
and  on  the  13th  of  September,  gave  audience  to  a  depu 
tation  from  all  the  religious  denominations  of  the  city  of 
Chicago,  which  presented  a  memorial  requesting  him  at 
once  to  issue  a  proclamation  of  universal  emancipation. 
The  President  having  listened  attentively  to  the  me 
morial,  replied  as  follows : 

"  The  subject  presented  in  the  memorial  is  one  upon  which  I 
have  thought  much  for  weeks  past,  and  I  may  even  say  for 
months.  I  am  approached  with  the  most  opposite  opinions 
and  advice,  and  that  by  religious  inen;  who  are  equally  certain 
that  they  represent  the  Divine  will.  I  am  sure  that  either  the 
one  or  the  other  class  is  mistaken  in  that  belief,  and  perhaps, 
in  some  respects,  both.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  irreverent  for  me 
to  say  that  if  it  is  probable  that  God  would  reveal  his  will  to 
others,  on  a  point  so  connected  with  my  duty,  it  might  be  sup 
posed  he  would  reveal  it  directly  to  me ;  for,  unless  I  am  more 
deceived  in  myself  than  I  often  am,  it  is  my  earnest  desire  to 
know  the  will  of  Providence  in  this  matter.  And  if  I  can 
learn  what  it  is  I  will. do  it !  These  are  not,  however,  the  days 
of  miracles,  and  I  suppose  it  will  be  granted  that  I  am  not  to 
expect  a  direct  revelation.  I  must  study  the  plain  physical 
facts  of  the  case,  ascertain  what  is  possible,  and  learn  what 
appears  to  be  wise  and  right. 

"  The  subject  is  difficult,  and  good  men  do  not  agree.  For 
instance,  the  other  day,  four  gentlemen  of  standing  and  intelli 
gence  from  New  York  called  as  a  delegation  on  business  con 
nected  with  the  war ;  but  before  leaving  two  of  them  earnestly 
besought  me  to  proclaim  general  emancipation,  upon  which  the 
other  two  at  once  attacked  them.  You  know  also  that  the  last 
session  of  Congress  had  a  decided  majority  of  anti-slavery  men, 


318  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

yet  they  could  not  unite  on  this  policy.  And  the  same  is  true  of 
the  religious  people.  Why,  the  rebel  soldiers  are  praying  with 
a  great  deal  more  earnestness,  I  fear,  than  our  own  troops,  and 
expecting  God  to  favor  their  side :  for  one  of  our  soldiers  who 
had  been  taken  prisoner,  told  Senator  Wilson  a  few  days  since 
that  he  met  nothing  so  discouraging  as  the  evident  sincerity  of 
those  he  was  among  in  their  prayers.  But  we  will  talk  over 
the  merits  of  the  case. 

"  What  good  would  a  proclamation  of  emancipation  from  me 
do,  especially  as  we  are  now  situated  ?  I  do  not  want  to  issue 
a  document  that  the  whole  world  will  see  must  necessarily  be 
inoperative,  like  the  Pope's  bull  against  the  comet.  Would 
my  word  free  the  slaves,  when  I  cannot  even  enforce  the  Con 
stitution  in  the  rebel  States  ?  Is  there  a  single  court,  or  ma 
gistrate,  or  individual,  that  would  be  influenced  by  it  there  ? 
And  what  reason  is  there  to  think  it  would  have  any  greater 
effect  upon  the  slaves  than  the  late  law  of  Congress,  which  I 
approved,  and  which  offers  protection  and  freedom  to  the  slaves 
of  rebel  masters  who  come  within  our  lines  ?  Yet  I  cannot 
learn  that  that  law  has  caused  a  single  slave  to  come  over  to 
us.  And  suppose  they  could  be  induced  by  a  proclamation  of 
freedom  from  me  to  throw  themselves  upon  us,  what  should 
we  do  with  them?  How  can  we  feed  and  care  for  such  a 
multitude  ?  General  Butler  wrote  me  a  few  days  since  that  he 
was  issuing  more  rations  to  the  slaves  who  had  rushed  to  him 
than  to  all  the  white  troops  under  his  command.  They  eat, 
and  that  is  all ;  though  it  is  true  General  Bntler  is  feeding  the 
whites  also  by  the  thousand :  for  it  nearly  amounts  to  a  famine 
there.  If,  now,  the  pressure  of  the  war  should  call  off  our 
forces  from  New  Orleans  to  defend  some  other  point,  what  is 
to  prevent  the  masters  from  reducing  the  blacks  to  slavery 
again  ;  for  I  am  told  that  whenever  the  rebels  take  any  black 
prisoners,  free  or  slave,  they  immediately  auction  them  off! 
They  did  so  with  those  they  took  from  a  boat  that  was  aground 
in  the  Tennessee  river  a  few  days  ago.  And  then  I  am  very 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  319 

ungenerously  attacked  for  it !  For  instance,  when,  after  the 
late  battles  at  and  near  Bull  Kun,  an  expedition  went  out  from 
Washington  under  a  flag  of  truce  to  bury  the  dead  and  bring 
in  the  wounded,  and  the  rebels  seized  the  blacks  who  went; 
along  to  help,  and  sent  them  into  slavery,  Horace  Greeley  said 
in  his  paper  that  the  government  would  probably  do  nothing 
about  it.  What  could  I  do  ? 

"  Now,  then,  tell  me,  if  you  please,  what  possible  result  of 
good  would  follow  the  issuing  of  such  a  proclamation  as  you 
desire?  Understand,  I  raise  no  objections  against  it  on  legal 
or  constitutional  grounds,  for,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy,  in  time  of  war  I  suppose  I  have  a  right  to 
take  any  measure  which  may  best  subdue  the  enemy ;  nor  do 
I  urge  objections  of  a  moral  nature,  in  view  of  possible  conse 
quences  of  insurrection  and  massacre  at  the  South.  I  view 
this  matter  as  a  practical  war  measure,  to  be  decided  on  accord 
ing  to  the  advantages  or  disadvantages  it  may  offer  to  the 
suppression  of  the  rebellion." 

The  committee,  in  replying  to  these  remarks,  insisted 
that  a  proclamation  of  emancipation  would  secure  at 
once  the  sympathy  of  Europe  and  the  civilized  world ; 
and  that  as  slavery  was  clearly  the  cause  and  origin  of 
the  rebellion,  it  was  simply  just,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  word  of  God,  that  it  should  be  abolished.  To  these 
views  the  President  responded  as  follows  : 

"  I  admit  that  slavery  is  at  the  root  of  the  rebellion,  or  at 
least  its  sine  qua  non.  The  ambition  of  politicians  may  have 
instigated  them  to  act,  but  they  would  have  been  impotent  with 
out  slavery  as  their  instrument.  I  will  also  concede  that  eman 
cipation  would  help  us  in  Europe,  and  convince  them  that  we 
are  incited  by  something  more  than  ambition.  I  grant,  further, 
that  it  would  help  somewhat  at  the  North,  though  not  so  much, 
I  fear,  as  you  and  those  you  represent  imagine.  Still,  some 


320  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

additional  strength  would  be  added  in  that  way  to  the  war ;  and 
then,  unquestionably,  it  would  weaken  the  rebels  by  drawing 
off  their  laborers,  which  is  of  great  importance ;  but  I  am  not 
so  sure  we  could  do  much  with  the  blacks.  If  we  were  to  arm 
them,  I  fear  that  in  a  few  weeks  the  arms  would  be  in  the  hands 
of  the  rebels  ;  and,  indeed,  thus  far,  we  have  not  had  arms 
enough  to  equip  our  white  troops.  I  will  mention  another 
thing,  though  it  meet  only  your  scorn  and  contempt.  There 
are  fifty  thousand  bayonets  in  the  Union  army  from  the  border 
slave  States.  It  would  be  a  serious  matter  if,  in  consequence 
of  a  proclamation  such  as  you  desire,  they  should  go  over  to 
the  rebels.  I  do  not  think  they  all  would — not  so  many  in 
deed  as  a  year  ago,  or  as  six  months  ago — not  so  many  to-day 
as  yesterday.  Every  day  increases  their  Union  feeling.  They 
are  also  getting  their  pride  enlisted,  and  want  to  beat  the  rebels. 
Let  me  say  one  thing  more.  I  think  you  should  admit  that  we 
already  have  an  important  principle  to  rally  and  unite  the 
people,  in  the  fact  that  constitutional  government  is  at  stake. 
This  is  a  fundamental  idea  going  down  about  as  deep  as  any 
thing." 

The  committee  replied  to  this  in  some  brief  remarks, 
to  which  the  President  made  the  following  response : 

"  Do  not  misunderstand  me  because  I  have  mentioned  these 
objections.  They  indicate  the  difficulties  that  have  thus  far 
prevented  my  action  in  some  such  way  as  you  desire.  I  have 
not  decided  against  a  proclamation  of  liberty  to  the  slaves,  but 
hold  the  matter  under  advisement.  And  I  can  assure  you 
that  the  subject  is  on  my  mind,  by  day  and*  night,  more  than 
any  other.  Whatever  shall  appear  to  be  God's  will  I  will  do. 
I  trust  that  in  the  freedom  with  which  I  have  canvassed  your 
views  I  have  not  in  any  respect  injured  your  feelings." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  evidently  "  feeling  his  way/'  with 
"  cautious  step,  but  sure."  Yet  a  complete  vindication, 


THE  EMANCIPATION   ACT.  321 

from  the  perhaps  natural  but  unwarrantable  aspirations 
cast  upon  his  conscientious  and  cautious  movements  to 
wards  emancipation,  was  even  then  furnished  by  some 
of  the  more  prominent  radicals  themselves.  No  testi 
mony  could  be  more  direct  or  more  earnest  than  the 
following  letter  from  the  Hon.  Charles  Sumner : 

"SENATE  CHAMBER,  June  5,  1862. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — Your  criticism  of  the  President  is  hasty. 
I  am  confident  that,  if  you  knew  him  as  I  do,  you  would  not 
make  it. 

"  Of  course,  the  President  cannot  be  held  responsible  for  the 
misfeasances  of  subordinates,  unless  adopted  or  at  least  tol 
erated  by  him.  And  I  am  sure  that  nothing  unjust  or  ungen 
erous  will  be  tolerated,  much  less  adopted  by  him. 

"  I  am  happy  to  let  you  know  that  he  has  no  sympathy  with 
Stanley  in  his  absurd  wickedness,  closing  the  schools,  nor 
again  in  his  other  act  of  turning  our  camp  into  a  hunting 
ground  for  slaves.  He  repudiates  both — positively.  The 
latter  point  has  occupied  much  of  his  thought :  and  the  news 
papers  have  not  gone  too  far  in  recording  his  repeated  declara 
tions,  which  I  have  often  heard  from  his  own  lips,  that  slaves 
finding  their  way  into  the  national  lines  are  never  to  be  ree'n- 
slaved.  This  is  his  conviction,  expressed  without  reserve. 

"Could  you  have  seen  the  President — as  it  was  my  privilege 
often  —while  he  was  considering  the  great  questions  on  which 
he  has  already  acted — the  invitation  to  emancipation  in  the 
States,  emancipation  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  Hayti  and  Liberia — 
even  your  zeal  would  have  been  satisfied,  for  you  would  have 
felt  the  sincerity  of  his  purpose  to  do  what  he  could  to  carry 
forward  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
His  whole  soul  was  occupied,  especially  by  the  first  proposi 
tion,  which  was  peculiarly  his  own.  In  familiar  intercourse 
\vith  him,  I  remember  nothing  more  touching  than  the  earnest- 
21 


322  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ness  and  completeness  with  which  he  embraced  this  idea.  To 
his  mind,  it  was  just  and  beneficent  while  it  promised  the  sure 
end  of  slavery.  Of  course,  to  me  who  had  proposed  a  bridge 
of  gold  for  the  retreating  fiend,  it  was  most  welcome.  Pro 
ceeding  from  the  President,  it  must  take  its  place  among  the 
great  events  of  history. 

"  If  you  are  disposed  to  be  impatient  at  any  seeming  short 
comings,  think,  I  pray  you,  of  what  has  been  done  in  a  brief 
period,  and  from  the  past  discern  the  sure  promise  of  the 
future.  Knowing  something  of  my  convictions,  and  of  the 
ardor  with  which  I  maintain  them,  you  may,  perhaps,  derive 
some  assurance  from  my  confidence.  I  may  say  to  you, 
therefore,  stand  by  the  Administration.  If  need  be,  help  it 
by  word  and  act,  but  stand  by  it,  and  have  faith  in  it. 

"  I  wish  that  you  really  knew  the  President,  and  had  heard 
the  artless  expression  of  his  convictions  on  these  questions 
which  concern  you  so  deeply.  You  might,  perhaps,  wish  that 
he  was  less  cautious,  but  you  would  be  grateful  that  he  is  so 
true  to  all  that  you  have  at  heart.  Believe  me,  therefore,  you 
are  wrong,  and  I  regret  it  the  more  because  of  my  desire  to  see 
all  our  friends  stand  firmly  together. 

"If  I  write  strongly  it  is  because  I  feel  strongly;  for  my 
constant  and  intimate  intercourse  with  the  President,  beginning 
with  the  4th  of  March,  not  only  binds  me  peculiarly  to  his 
Administration,  but  gives  me  a  personal  as  well  as  a  political 
interest  in  seeing  that  justice  is  done  him." 

In  the  Boston  Liberator  we  also  find  a  letter  from  the 
late  Hon.  Owen  Lovejoy,  addressed  to  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  under  date  of  Washington,  February  22,  1864, 
in  which  he  says : 

"I  write  you,  although  ill-health  compels  me  to  do  it  by 
the  hands  of  another,  to  express  to  you  my  gratification  at  the 
position  that  you  have  taken  in  reference  to  Mr  Lincoln.  I 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  323 

am  satisfied,  as  the  old  theologians  used  to  say  in  regard  to  the 
world,  that  if  he  is  not  the  best  conceivable  President,  he  is  the 
best  possible.  I  have  known  something  of  the  facts  inside 
during  his  administration,  and  I  know  that  he  has  been  just  as 
radical  as  any  of  his  Cabinet.  And  although  he  does  not  do 
every  thing  that  you  or  I  would  like,  the  question  recurs, 
whether  it  is  likely  we  can  elect  a  man  who  would.  It  is 
evident  that  the  great  mass  of  Unionists  prefer  him  for  re 
election  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  certain  that  the  providence  of 
God,  during  another  term,  will  grind  slavery  to  powder.  I 
believe  now  that  the  President  is  up  with  the  average  of  the 
House." 

After  due  deliberation,  and  being  satisfied  that  the 
public  welfare  would  be  promoted  by,  and  that  public 
sentiment  would  fully  sustain  such  a  step,  on  the  22d 
of  September,  1862,  the  President  issued  the  following 
prelimary 

PROCLAMATION   OF   EMANCIPATION. 

"I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  and  navy 
thereof,  do  hereby  proclaim  and  declare  that  hereafter,  as  here 
tofore,  the  war  will  be  prosecuted  for  the  object  of  practically 
restoring  the  constitutional  relation  between  the  United  States 
and  each  of  the  States,  and  the  people  thereof,  in  which  States 
that  relation  is  or  may  be  suspended  or  disturbed. 

"  That  it  is  my  purpose,  upon  the  next  meeting  of  Congress, 
to  again  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  practical  measure  ten 
dering  pecuniary  aid  to  the  free  acceptance  or  rejection  of  all 
slave  States  so-called,  the  people  whereof  may  not  then  be  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and  which  States  may  then 
have  voluntarily  adopted,  or  thereafter  may  voluntarily  adopt, 
immediate  or  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery  within  their  re 
spective  limits;  and  that  the  effort  to  colonize  persons  of 
African  descent,  with  their  consent,  upon  this  continent  or 


324  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

elsewhere,  with  the  previously  obtained  consent  of  the  govern 
ment  existing  there;  will  be  continued. 

"  That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held 
as  slaves  within  any  State,  or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the 
people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free ;  and  the 
executive  government  of  the  United  States,  including  the 
military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  main 
tain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to 
repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may 
make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

"  That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  afore 
said,  by  proclamation,  designate  the  States  or  parts  of  States,  if 
any,  in  which  the  people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States ;  and  the  fact  that  any  State, 
or  the 'people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be  in  good  faith  repre 
sented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  members 
chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  such  State  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the 
absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclu 
sive  evidence  that  such  State,  and  the  people  thereof,  are  not 
then  in  rebellion  against  the  United^States. 

"  That  attention  is  hereby  called  to  an  act  of  Congress  en 
titled  'An  Act  to  make  an  additional  Article  of  War,'  approved 
March  13th,  1862,  and  which  act  is  in  the  words  and  figures 
following : 

"J3e  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  hereafter 
the  following  shall  be  promulgated  as  an  additional  article  of ! 
war  for  the  government  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and 
shall  be  obeyed  and  observed  as  such : 

"ARTICLE. — All  officers  or  persons  in  the  military  or  naval 
service  of  the  United  States  are  prohibited  from  employing 
any  of  the  forces  under  their  respective  commands  for  the  pur- 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  325 

pose  of  returning  fugitives  from  service  or  labor  who  may  have 
escaped  from  any  person  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is 
claimed  to  be  due ;  and  any  officer  who  shall  be  found  guilty 
by  a  court-martial  of  violating  this  article  shall  be  dismissed 
from  the  service. 

"  SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  take 
effect  from  and  after  its  passage. 

"Also,  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  sections  of  an  act  entitled  'An 
Act  to  Suppress  Insurrection,  to  Punish  Treason  and  Kebel- 
lion,  to  seize  and  Confiscate  Property  of  Eebels,  and  for  other 
Purposes/  approved  July  16,  1862,  and  which  sections  are  in 
the  words  and  figures  following : 

"  SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  slaves  of  persons 
who  shall  hereafter  be  engaged  in  rebellion  against  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  or  who  shall  in  any  way  give 
aid  or  comfort  thereto,  escaping  from  such  persons  and  taking 
refuge  within  the  lines  of  the  army ;  and  all  slaves  captured 
from  such  persons,  or  deserted  by  them  and  coming  under  the 
control  of  the  government  of  the  United  States ;  and  all 
slaves  of  such  persons  found  on  [or]  being  within  any  place 
occupied  by  rebel  forces  and  afterward  occupied  by  forces 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  deemed  captives  of  war,  and 
shall  be  forever  free  of  their  servitude,  and  not  again  held  as 
slaves. 

"  SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  slave  escaping 
into  any  State,  Territory,  or  the  District  of  Columbia,  from  any 
other  State,  shall  be  delivered  up,  or  in  any  way  impeded  or 
hindered  of  his  liberty,  except  for  crime,  or  some  offence 
against  the  laws,  unless  the  person  claiming  said  fugitive  shall 
first  make  oath  that  the  person  to  whom  the  labor  or  service  of 
such  fugitive  is  alleged  to  be  due  is  his  lawful  owner,  and  has 
not  borne  arms  against  the  United  States  in  the  present  rebel 
lion,  nor  in  any  way  given  aid  and  comfort  thereto  ;  and  no 
person  engaged  in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United 
States  shall,  under  any  pretence  whatever,  assume  to  decide  on 


326  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  validity  of  the  claim  of  any  person  to  the  service  or  labor 
of  any  other  person,  or  surrender  up  any  such  person  to  the 
claimant,  on  pain  of  being  dismissed  from  the  service. 

"  And  I  do  hereby  enjoin  upon  and  order  all  persons  engaged 
in  the  military  and  naval  service  of  the  United  States  to 
observe,  obey,  and  enforce,  within  their  respective  spheres 
of  service,  the  act  and  sections  above  recited. 

"  And  the  Executive  will  in  due  time  recommend  that  all 
citizens  of  the  United  States  who  shall  have  remained  loyal 
thereto  throughout  the  rebellion,  shall  (upon  the  restoration  of 
the  constitutional  relation  between  the  United  States  and  their 
respective  States  and  people,  if  that  relation  shall  have  been 
suspended  or  disturbed)  be  compensated  for  all  losses  by  acts 
of  the  United  States,  including  the  loss  of  slaves. 

"In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  twenty-second  day  of 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
[L.  s.]  hundred  and  sixty-two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"  By  the  President : 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State." 

This  was  the  great  official  act  of  the  year  and  of  the 
century.  The  cause  of  freedom,  hitherto,  had  proceeded 
in  the  path  of  progress  from  steps  to  strides ;  but  here 
the  Chief  Magistrate  made  a  forward  leap. 

This  bold  step  soon  proved  its  force  against  the 
traitors  by  the  estimation  in  which  they  held  it — most 
of  the  southern  journals  denouncing  it  as  an  incentive 
to  the  slaves  to  rise  in  insurrection.  A  resolution  was 
offered  in  the  rebel  Congress,  offering  a  reward  to  every 
negro  who  should,  after  the  first  of  January,  1863,  sue- 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  327 

ceed  in  killing  a  Unionist.  The  shaft  had  "  struck  home" 
to  a  vital  part  of  the  Confederacy,  as  was  evident  from 
the  rage  of  the  rebels  and  those  opponents  of  the  Admin 
istration  in  the  loyal  States,  and  the  sympathizers  with 
secession  everywhere,  who  insisted  that  it  afforded  un 
mistakable  evidence  that  the  object  of  the  war  was, 
what  they  had  always  declared  it  to  be,  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  and  not  the  restoration  of  the  Union ;  and 
they  put  forth  the  most  vigorous  efforts  to  arouse  public 
sentiment  against  the  Administration  on  this  ground. 
This  was  in  the  face  of  the  explicit  declaration  of  the 
document  itself,  in  which  the  President  "proclaimed 
and  declared"  that  "hereafter,  as  heretofore,  the  war 
will  be  prosecuted  for  the  object  of  practically  restoring 
the  constitutional  relation  between  the  United  States 
and  each  of  the  States  and  the  people  thereof,  in  w^hich 
that  relation  is  or  may  be  suspended  or  disturbed." 
This  at  once  made  it  evident  that  emancipation,  as 
provided  for  in  the  proclamation,  as  a  war  measure, 
was  subsidiary  and  subordinate  to  the  paramount  object 
of  the  war — the  restoration  of  the  Union,  and  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  authority  of  the  Constitution ;  and 
in  this  sense  it  was  favorably  received  by  the  great  body 
of  the  loyal  people  of  the  United  States. 

Two  days  only  had  elapsed  since  the  promulgation  of 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  when  another  mandate 
of  almost  equal  importance,  dropped  like  a  bomb-shePl 
amid  the  ranks  of  the  rebel  sympathizers.  This  was 
the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  Herein  it 
was  ordered : 

"  First.  That  during  the  existing  insurrection,  and  as  a  neces 
sary  measure  for  suppressing  the  same,  all  rebels  and  insur- 


328  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

gents,  their  aiders  and  abettors,  within  the  United  States,  and 
all  persons  discouraging  volunteer  enlistments,  resisting  militia 
drafts,  or  guilty*  of  any  disloyal  practice  affording  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  rebels  against  the  authority  of  the  United 
States,  shall  be  subject  to  martial  law,  and  liable  to  trial 
and  punishment  by  courts  martial  or  military  commissions. 

"Third.  That  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  suspended  in 
respect  to  all  persons  arrested,  or  who  are  now,  or  hereafter 
during  the  rebellion  shall  be  imprisoned  in  any  fort,  camp, 
arsenal,  military  prison,  or  other  place  of  confinement,  by  any 
military  authority,  or  by  the  sentence  of  any  court  martial  or 
military  commission." 

This  act — unquestionably  called  for  by  the  growing 
danger  of  the  spirit  of  treason  being  excited  by  the 
friends  of  slavery  in  the  North — strengthened  the 
President's  hands  to  a  degree  exceedingly  distasteful  to 
those  who  were  not  ashamed  to  aid  and  abet  the  enemies 
of  their  country  by  voice  and  pen.  Such  dangerous 
characters  were,  at  any  moment,  liable  to  be  grasped 
by  the  strong  hand  of  military  law.  They  accordingly 
set  up  a  general  and  doleful  howl  through  the  news 
papers  and  speeches,  proving,  not  only  their  disloyalty 
beyond  a  question,  but  demonstrating  the  wisdom  of 
the  offensive  act.  The  beneficial  effects  of  this  order 
were  not  long  in  manifesting  themselves,  as  all  inter 
ference  with  enlistments  ceased  from  that  date. 

It  only  remains  to  be  added,  in  this  connection,  that 
on  the  first  of  January,  1863,  the  President  followed 
this  measure  by  issuing  the  following 

PROCLAMATION. 

'WHEREAS,  On  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  329 

year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- two,  a 
proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
containing,  among  other  things,  the  following,  to  wit : 

"  That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty -three,  all  persons  held  as 
slaves  within  any  States  or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the 
people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free ;  and  the 
executive  government  of  the  United  States,  including  the 
military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  main 
tain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to 
repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may 
make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

"  That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  afore 
said,  by  proclamation,  designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States, 
if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be 
in  rebellion  against  the  United  States ;  and  the  fact  that  any 
State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be  in  good  faith 
represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  members 
chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  such  State  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the 
absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  con 
clusive  evidence  that  such  State,  and  the  people  thereof,  are  not 
then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States. 

"Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Wavy  of  the  United  States 
in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  and 
government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary 
war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day 
of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose 
so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred 
days,  from  the  day  first  above  mentioned,  order  and  designate 
as  the  States  and  parts  of  States  wherein  the  people  thereof 


330  THE   LITE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

respectively  are  this  day  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States, 
the  following,  to  wit : 

"Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana  (except  the  parishes  of  St. 
Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St. 
James,  Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne,  Lafourche,  Ste. 
Marie,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans,  including  the  city  of  New 
Orleans),  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Caro 
lina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia  (except  the  forty-eight 
counties  designated  as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of 
Berkeley,  Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York 
Princess  Anne,  and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of  Norfolk 
and  Portsmouth),  and  which  excepted  parts  are  for  the  present 
left  precisely  as  if  this  proclamation  were  not  issued. 

"  And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid, 
I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within 
said  designated  States  and  parts  of  States,  are  and  henceforward 
shall  be  free ;  and  that  the  executive  government  of  the 
United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authorities 
thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said 
persons. 

"And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free, 
to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defence ; 
and  I  recommend  to  them  that,  in  all  cases  when  allowed,  they 
labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

"  And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons, 
of  suitable  condition,  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service 
of  the  United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  aod 
other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

"And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of 
justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution  upon  military  necessity, 
I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind,  and  the  gracious 
favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  name,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 


THE   EMANCIPATION  ACT.  331 

"Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  January, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
[L.  s.]  sixty -three,    and   of  the  independence   of  the    United 
States  the  eighty-seventh. 

(Signed),  "ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

'  By  the  President : 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWABD,  Secretary  of  State" 

The  deed  was  accomplished.  The  final  blow  was 
given,  by  this  ACT  OF  EMANCIPATION,  both  to  the  rebellion 
and  to  its  cause.  The  crisis  was  past,  and  the  settle 
ment  of  our  national  troubles  was  henceforth  only  a 
question  of  time ;  and,  as  certainly  as  God  was  on  the  side 
of  right  and  justice,  so  certain  was  the  North  to  triumph 
in  the  great  struggle  which  thenceforth  assumed  the 
form  of  a  direct  issue  between  the  powers  of  light  and 
the  powers  of  darkness.  It  was  a  momentous  and  yet 
a  magnificent  spectacle,  when,  at  length,  all  minor  con 
siderations  were  left  behind,  and  the  great  question  was 
fairly  met.  "  There,  on  that  day,  on  this  western  conti 
nent  was  witnessed,  not  a  dream  of  fable,  but  as  a 
momentous  fact,  the  birth  of  LIBERTY!  Through  the 
great  travail  of  the  nation  came  deliverance  by  the 
hand  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  for  four  millions  of  slaves." 

We  cannot  more  fitly  close  this  central  chapter  in  our 
work,  than  by  giving  our  readers  the  inside  history  of 
this  document,  as  related  by  Mr.  F.  B.  CARPENTER,*  in 
the  New  York  Independent. 

*  Mr.  Carpenter  was  the  artist  who  executed  the  celebrated  painting 
of  the  i{  First  Reading  in  Cabinet  Council  of  the  Emancipation  Proclama 
tion,"  and  was,  for  six  months,  while  engaged  upon  that  picture,  a  resi 
dent  of  the  White  House,  and  enjoyed  the  freest  daily  intercourse  with 
the  President,  and  his  family. 


332  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

"  The  summer  of  '62  was  the  gloomiest  period  of  the  war. 
After  the  most  stupendous  preparations  known  in  modern  war 
fare,  McClellan,  with  an  army  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  thou 
sand  men  had  retreated  from  the  peninsula,  after  the  '  seven 
days'  severe  fighting  before  Eichmond,  and  great  depression 
followed  the  disappointment  of  the  brilliant  hopes  of  the 
beginning  of  the  campaign.  The  'On  to  Kichmond'  had 
been  succeeded  by  '  Back  to  Washington,'  and  the  rebellion, 
flushed  with  success,  was  more  defiant  than  ever! 

"  Thus  far,  the  war  had  been  prosecuted  by  the  Administra 
tion  without  touching  slavery  in  any  manner.  The  reasons  for 
this,  are  so  admirably  set  forth  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  letter  to  Colonel 
Hodges,  that  I  feel  that  I  can  do  no  better,  in  this  connection, 
than  to  copy  the  paragraph  in  full : 

" '  I  am  naturally  anti-slavery.  If  slavery  is  not  wrong, 
nothing  is  wrong.  I  cannot  remember  when  I  did  not  so  think 
and  feel,  and  yet  I  have  never  understood  that  the  Presidency 
conferred  upon  me  an  unrestricted  right  to  act  officially  upon 
this  judgment  and  feeling.  It  was  in  the  oath  I  took  that  I 
would,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend, 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  I  could  not  take  the 
office  without  taking  the  oath.  Nor  was  it  my  view  that  I 
might  take  an  oath  to  get  power,  and  break  the  oath  in  using 
the  power.  I  understood,  too,  that  in  ordinary  civil  adminis 
tration  this  oath  even  forbade  me  to  practically  indulge  my 
primary  abstract  judgment  on  the  moral  question  of  slavery. 
I  had  publicly  declared  this  many  times,  and  in  many  ways. 
And  I  aver  that,  to  this  day,  I  have  done  no  official  act  in  mere 
deference  to  my  abstract  judgment  and  feeling  on  slavery. 

"'I  did  understand,  however,  that  the  very  oath  to  preserve 
the  Constitution  to  the  best  of  my  ability  imposed  upon  me  the 
duty  of  preserving,  by  every  indispensable  means,  that  govern 
ment — that  nation  of  which  that  Constitution  was  the  organic 
law.  "Was  it  possible  to  lose  the  nation  and  yet  preserve  the 
Constitution  ?  By  general  law,  life  and  limb  must  be  protected ; 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  333 

jet  often  a  limb  must  be  amputated  to  save  a  life ;  but  a  life  is 
never  wisely  given  to  save  a  limb.  I  felt  that  measures,  other 
wise  unconstitutional,  might  become  lawful  by  becoming  indis 
pensable  to  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution  through  the 
preservation  of  the  nation.  Eight  or  wrong,  I  assumed  this 
ground,  and  now  avow  it.  I  could  not  feel  that,  to  the  best  of 
my  ability,  I  had  even  tried  to  preserve  the  Constitution  if  to 
preserve  slavery,  or  any  minor  matter,  I  should  permit  the 
wreck  of  government,  country,  and  Constitution  altogether. 
When,  early  in  the  war,  General  Fremont  attempted  military 
emancipation,  I  forbade  it,  because  I  did  not  then  think  it  an 
indispensable  necessity.  When,  a  little  later,  General  Cameron, 
then  Secretary  of  War,  suggested  the  arming  of  the  blacks,  I 
objected,  because  I  did  not  yet  think  it  an  indispensable  neces 
sity.  When,  still  later,  General  Hunter  attempted  military 
emancipation,  I  again  forbade  it,  because  I  did  not  yet  think 
the  indispensable  necessity  had  come.  When,  in  March,  and 
May,  and  July,  1862,  I  made  earnest  and  successive  appeals  to 
the  border  States  to  favor  compensated  emancipation,  I  believed 
the  indispensable  necessity  for  military  emancipation  and  arming 
the  blacks  would  come,  unless  averted  by  that  measure.  They 
declined  the  proposition,  and  I  was,  in  my  best  judgment, 
driven  to  the  alternative  of  either  surrendering  the  Union,  and 
with  it  the  Constitution,  or  of  laying  strong  hand  upon  the 
colored  element.  I  chose  the  latter!' 

"  Going  over  this  same  ground  on  an  occasion  I  well  remem 
ber,  Mr.  Lincoln  said :  '  The  paramount  idea  of  the  Constitution 
is  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  It  may  not  be  specified  in 
so  many  words,  but  of  this  there  can  be  no  question ;  for  with 
out  the  Union  the  Constitution  would  be  worthless.  The  Union 
made  the  Constitution,  not  the  Constitution  the  Union !  It 
seems  clear,  that,  if  the  emergency  should  arise  that  slavery,  or 
any  other  institution,  stood  in  the  way  of  the  maintenance  of 
the  Union,  and  the  alternative  was  presented  to  the  Executive 
of  the  destruction  of  one  or  the  other,  he  could  not  hesitate 


334  THE   LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

between  the  two.  I  can  now,'  he  continued,  '  most  solemnly 
assert  that  I  did  all  in  my  judgment  that  could  be  done  to 
restore  the  Union  without  interfering  with  the  institution  of 
slavery.  We  failed,  and  the  blow  at  slavery  was  struck.' 

"  I  now  take  up  the  history  of  the  Proclamation  itself,  as 
Mr.  Lincoln  gave  it  to  me,  on  the  occasion  of  our  first  inter 
view,  as  written  down  by  myself  soon  afterward : 

"  '  It  had  got  to  be,'  said  he,  '  mid-summer,  1862.  Things  had 
gone  on  from  bad  to  worse,  until  I  felt  that  we  had  reached  the 
end  of  our  rope  on  the  plan  of  operations  we  had  been  pursu 
ing  ;  that  we  had  about  played  our  last  card,  and  must  change 
our  tactics  or  lose  the  game.  I  now  determined  upon  the 
adoption  of  the  emancipation  policy ;  and  without  consultation 
with  or  the  knowledge  of  the  Cabinet,  I  prepared  the  original 
draft  of  the  Proclamation,  and  after  much  anxious  thought 
called  a  Cabinet  meeting  upon  the  subject.  This  was  the  last 
of  July  or  the  first  part  of  the  month  of  August,  1862.'  (The 
exact  date  he  did  not  remember.)  l  This  Cabinet  meeting  took 
place,  I  think,  upon  a  Saturday.  All  were  present  excepting 
Mr.  Blair,  the  Postmaster- General,  who  was  absent  at  the  open 
ing  of  the  discussion,  but  came  in  subsequently.  I  said  to  the 
Cabinet  that  I  had  resolved  upon  this  step,  and  had  not  called 
them  together  to  ask  their  advice,  but  to  lay  the  subject-matter 
of  a  proclamation  before  them — suggestions  as  to  which  would 
be  in  order,  after  they  had  heard  it  read.  Mr.  Lovejoy,'  said 
he,  'was  in  error  when  he  informed  you  that  it  excited  no  com 
ment  excepting  on  the  part  of  Secretary  Seward.  Various  sug 
gestions  were  offered.  Secretary  Chase  wished  the  language 
stronger  in  reference  to  the  arming  of  the  blacks.  Mr.  Blair, 
after  he  came  in,  deprecated  the  policy,  on  the  ground  that  it 
would  cost  the  Administration  the  fall  elections.  Nothing  how 
ever  was  offered  that  I  had  not  already  fully  anticipated  and 
settled  in  my  own  mind,  until  Secretary  Seward  spoke.  Said 
he :  '  Mr.  President,  I  approve  of  the  Proclamation,  but  I  ques 
tion  the  expediency  of  its  issue  at  this  juncture.  The  deprep- 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  335 

sion  of  the  public  mind  consequent  upon  our  repeated  reverses 
is  so  great,  that  I  fear  the  effect  of  so  important  a  step.  It  may 
be  viewed  as  the  last  measure  of  an  exhausted  government — a 
cry  for  help — the  government  stretching  forth  its  hands  to 
Ethiopia,  instead  of  Ethiopia  stretching  forth  her  hands  to  the 
government.'  '  His  idea,'  said  the  President,  '  was  that  it  would 
be  considered  our  last  shriek  on  the  retreat.'  (This  was  his 
precise  expression.)  'Now,'  continued  Mr.  Seward,  'while  I 
approve  the  measure,  I  suggest,  sir,  that  you  postpone  its  issue 
•until  you  can  give  it  to  the  country  supported  by  military  suc 
cess,  instead  of  issuing  it,  as  would  be  the  case  now,  upon  the 
greatest  disasters  of  the  war.'  Said  Mr.  Lincoln  :  '  The  wisdom 
of  the  view  of  the  Secretary  of  State  struck  me  with  very 
great  force.  It  was  an  aspect  of  the  case,  that,  in  all  my 
thought  upon  the  subject,  I  had  entirely  overlooked.  The  re 
sult  was,  that  I  put  the  draft  of  the  proclamation  aside,  as  you 
do  your  sketch  for  a  picture,  waiting  for  a  victory.  From  time 
to  time  I  added  or  changed  a  line,  touching  it  up  here  and 
there,  waiting  the  progress  of  events.  Well,  the  next  news  we 
had  was  of  Pope's  disaster  at  Bull  Kun.  Things  looked  darker 
than  ever.  Finally,  came  the  week  of  the  battle  of  Antietam. 
I  determined  to  wait  no  longer.  The  news  came,  I  think  on 
Wednesday,  that  the  advantage  was  on  our  side.  I  was  then 
staying  at  the  'Soldiers'  Home,'  (three  miles  out  of  Washing 
ton.)  '  Here  I  finished  writing  the  second  draft  of  the  pre 
liminary  proclamation ;  came  up  on  Saturday  ;  called  the  Cabinet 
together  to  hear  it,  and  it  was  published  the  following  Monday.' 

" '  It  was  a  somewhat  remarkable  fact,'  he  continued,  '  that 
there  was  just  one  hundred  days  between  the  dates  of  the  two 
proclamations,  .issued  upon  the  22d  of  September  and  the 
1st  of  January.  I  had  not  made  the  calculation  at  the  time.'  ' 

"At  the  final  meeting  on  Saturday,  another  interesting  inci 
dent  occurred  in  connection  with  Secretary  Seward.  The 
President  had  written  the  important  part  of  the  Proclamation 
in  these  words : 


336  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

" '  That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty -three,  all  persons  held 
as  slaves  within  any  State,  or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the 
people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward  and  forever  FREE  ;  and  the 
executive  government  of  the  United  States,  including  the 
military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  the  freedom 
of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  per 
sons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their 
actual  freedom.'  'When  I  finished  reading  this  paragraph,7 
resumed  Mr.  Lincoln,  'Mr.  Seward  stopped  me,  and  said,  'I 
think,  Mr.  President,  that  you  should  insert  after  the  word 
' r(.  wgnize*  in  that  sentence,  the  words  ' and  maintain'  I  replied 
that  I  had  already  fully  considered  the  import  of  that  expres 
sion  in  this  connection,  but  I  had  not  introduced  it  because  it 
was  not  my  way  to  promise  what  I  was  not  entirely  sure  that 
I  could  perform,  and  I  was  not  prepared  to  say  that  I  thought 
we  were  exactly  able  to  '  maintain'  this. 

"'But,'  said  he,  'Mr.  Seward  insisted  that  we  ought  to  take 
this  ground ;  and  the  words  finally  went  in.' 

"  In  February  last,  a  few  days  after  the  passage  of  the  '  Con 
stitutional  Amendment,'  I  was  in  Washington,  and  was  received 
by  Mr.  Lincoln  with  the  kindness  and  familiarity  which  had 
characterized  our  previous  intercourse.  I  said  to  him  one  day 
that  I  was  very  proud  to  have  been  the  artist  to  have  first  con 
ceived  of  the  design  of  painting  a  picture  commemorative  of 
the  Act  of  Emancipation — that  subsequent  occurrences  had 
only  confirmed  my  own  first  judgment  of  that  act  as  the  most 
sublime  moral  event  in  our  history.  '  Yes,'  said  he,  and  never 
do  I  remember  to  have  noticed  in  him  more  earnestness  of  ex- 
pr?ssion  or  manner,  'AS  AFFAIRS  HAVE  TURNED,  IT  is  THE 

CENTRAL  ACT  OF  MY  ADMINISTRATION    AND   THE    GREAT  EVENT 
OF   THE   NINETEENTH   CENTURY.' 

"I  remember  to  have  asked  him,  on  one  occasion,  if  there 
was  not  some  opposition  manifested  on  the  part  of  several 


THE   EMANCIPATION    ACT.  337 

members  of  the  Cabinet  to  the  emancipation  policy.  He  said, 
in  reply :  '  Nothing  more  than  I  have  stated  to  you.  Mr.  Blair 
thought  we  should  lose  the  fall  elections,  and  opposed  it  on 
that  ground  only.'  Said  I,  '  I  have  understood  that  Secretary 
Smith  was  not  in  favor  of  your  action.  Mr.  Blair  told  me  that, 
when  the  meeting  closed,  he  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
went  away  together,  and  that  the  latter  told  him,  if  the  Presi 
dent  carried  out  that  policy,  he  might  count  on  losing  Indiana, 
sure !'  '  He  never  said  any  thing  of  the  kind  to  me, '  returned 
the  President.  '  And  how,'  said  I,  '  does  Mr.  Blair  feel  about  it 
now?'  ' Oh,'  was  the  prompt  reply,  'he  proved  right  in  regard 
to  the  fall  elections,  but  he  is  satisfied  that  we  have  since  gained 
more  than  we  lost!'  'I  have  been  told,'  said  I,  'that  Judge 
Bates  doubted  the  constitutionality  of  the  Proclamation.'  '  He 
never  expressed  such  an  opinion  in  my  hearing,'  replied  Mr. 
Lincoln.  '  No  member  of  the  Cabinet  ever  dissented  from  the 
policy,  in  any  conversation  with  me.' 

•'  There  was  one  marked  element  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  character 
admirably  expressed  by  the  Hon.  Schuyler  Col  fax,  in  his  oration 
at  Chicago  upon  his  death :  '  When  his  judgment,  which  acted 
slowly,  but  which  was  almost  as  immovable  as  the  eternal  hills 
when  settled,  was  grasping  some  subject  of  importance,  -the 
arguments  against  his  own  desires  seemed  uppermost  in  his 
mind,  and,  in  conversing  upon  it,  he  would  present  those  argu 
ments  to  see  if  they  could  be  rebutted.' 

"  In  illustration  of  this,  I  need  onlv  here  recall  the  fact  that 
the  interview  between  himself  and  the  Chicago  delegation  of 
clergymen,  appointed  to  urge  upon  him  the  issue  of  a  Proclama 
tion  of  Emancipation,  took  place  September  18,  1862,  just  about 
a  month  after  the  President  had  declared  his  established  purpose  to 
take  this  step  at  the  Cabinet  meeting  which  I  have  described. 
He  said  to  this  committee:  'I  do  not  want  to  issue  a  document 
that  the  whole  world  will  see  must  necessarily  be  inoperative, 
like  the  Pope's  bull  against  the  comet!'  After  drawing  out 
22 


338  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

their  views  upon  the  subject,  lie  concluded  the  interview  with 
these  memorable  words : 

" '  Do  not  misunderstand  me,  because  I  have  mentioned  these 
objections.  They  indicate  the  difficulties  which  have  thus  far 
prevented  my'  action  in  some  such  way  as  you  desire.  I  have 
not  decided  against  a  proclamation  of  liberty  to  the  slaves,  but 
hold  the  matter  under  advisement.  And  I  can  assure  you  that 
the  subject  is  on  my  mind  by  day  and  night,  more  than  any 
other.  Whatever  shall  appear  to  be  God's  will,  I  mill  do!  I  trust 
that,  in  the  freedom  with  which.  I  have  canvassed  your  views, 
I  have  not  in  any  respect  injured  your  feelings.' 

"In  further  illustration  of  this  peculiarity  of  his  mind,  I 
will  say  here,  to  silence  for  ever  the  cavils  of  those  who  have 
asserted  that  he  was  forced  by  the  pressure  of  public  opinion 
to  nominate  Mr.  Chase  as  Judge  Taney's  successor,  that,  not 
withstanding  his  apparent  hesitation  upon  this  subject,  and  all 
that  was  reported  at  the  time  in  the  newspapers  as  to  the 
chances  of  the  various  candidates,  it  is  a  fact  well  known  to 
several  of  his  most  intimate  friends  that  'there  had  never  been 
a  time  during  his  Presidency,  that,  in  the  event  of  the  death  of 
Judge  Taney,  he  had  not  fully  intended  and  expected  to  nomi 
nate  SALMON  P.  CHASE  for  Chief  Justice !'  These  were  his 
very  words  uttered  in  this  connection ! 

"  Mr.  Chase  told  me  that  at  the  Cabinet  meeting,  immediately 
after  the  battle  of  Antietam,  and  just  prior  to  the  issue  of  the 
September  proclamation,  the  President  entered  upon  the  business 
before  them,  by  saying  that  '  the  time  for  the  annunciation  of 
the  emancipation  policy  could  no  longer  be  delayed.  Public 
sentiment,'  he  thought,  '  would  sustain  it,  many  of  his  warmest 
friends  and  supporters  demanded  it — and  he  had  promised  his 
God  that  he  would  do  it  /'  The  last  part  of  this  was  uttered  in 
a  low  tone,  and  appeared  to  be  heard  by  no  one  but  Secretary 
Chase,  who  was  sitting  near  him.  He  asked  the  President  if 
he  correctly  understood  him.  Mr.  Lincoln  replied,  '  I  made  a 
solemn  vow  before  God  that,  if  General  Lee  was  driven  back  from 


THE   EMANCIPATION    ACT.  339 

Pennsylvania,  I  would  crown  the  result  "by  ike,  declaration  of  free 
dom  to  the  slaves  /' 

"  In  concluding  this  article,  it  will  perhaps  be  expected  that 
I  should  take  some  notice  of  an  assertion  made  originally  in 
an  editorial  article  in  The  Independent,  upon  the  withdrawal 
of  Mr.  Chase  from  the  political  canvass  of  1864,  and  widely 
copied,  in  which  it  was  stated  that  the  concluding  paragraph 
of  the  Proclamation  was  from  the  pen  of  Secretary  Chase.  One 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  intimate  friends  (this  incident  was  related  to 
me  by  the  gentleman  himself),  who  felt  that  there  was  an  im 
propriety  in  this  publication  at  that  time,  for  which  Mr.  Chase 
was  in  some  degree  responsible,  went  to  see  the  President  about 
it.  'Oh,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  his  characteristic  simplicity 
and  freedom  from  all  suspicion,  '  Mr.  Chase  had  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  I  think  /  mentioned  the  circumstance  to  Mr.  Tilton, 
myself.' 

"  The  facts  in  the  case  are  these :  While  the  measure  was 
pending,  Mr.  Chase  submitted  to  the  President  a  draft  of  a  proc 
lamation  embodying  his  views  upon  the  subject,  which  closed 
with  the  appropriate  and  solemn  words  referred  to :  '  And  upon 
this  act,  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice  warranted  by  the  Con 
stitution,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and 
the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God !' 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  this  sentence  intact,  excepting  that  he 
inserted  after  the  word  '  Constitution'  the  words  '  upon  mili 
tary  necessity.' 

"  Thus  is  ended  what  I  have  long  felt  to  be  a  duty  I  owed 
to  the  world — the  record  of  circumstances  attending  the  prep 
aration  and  issue  of  the  third  great  state  paper  which  has 
marked  the  progress  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  civilization. 

"  First  is  the  '  MAGNA  CHARTA,'  wrested  by  the  barons  of 
England  from  King  John ;  second,  the  '  DECLARATION  OF  IN 
DEPENDENCE,'  and  third,  worthy  to  be  placed  upon  the  tablets 
of  history,  side  by  side  with  the  first  two,  is  '  ABRAHAM  LIN 
COLN'S  PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION!' 


340  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LIXCOLX. 

Apropos,  also,  to  the  same  subject,  are  the  reminis 
cences  of  the  Rev.  MONCURE  D.  COXWAY,  which  appeared 
in  the  (London)  "Fortnightly  Review"  of  May  15, 
1865.  He  says : 

"  Early  in  the  war  I  had  the  opportunity  of  a  private  inter 
view  with  the  President.  The  hour  of  eight  in  the  morning 
was  named  by  him,  and  I  found  that  even  that  was  not  early 
enough  for  his  work  to  begin.  In  the  ante-rooom  was  a  young 
woman  with  her  child,  whose  plea  the  President  would  hear. 
Sad  and  tearful  when  she  presently  entered  his  room,  she  was 
radiant  enough  on  her  return,  and  doubtless  some  poor  pris 
oner  was  set  free  that  day  to  return  home.  My  friend  and  I 
were  also  there  to  plead  for  prisoners ;  believing  that  the  hour 
had  come  when  slavery  had  earned  the  right  to  perish  by  the 
sword  which  it  had  taken,  we  came  to  implore  the  President  to 
be  our  deliverer  from  this  fearful  demon  that  had  so  long  harried 
the  land  and  poisoned  life  for  all  who  loved  their  country  or 
justice.  The  President  listened  very  patiently,  and  gave  us 
his  views  fully.  The  words  which  remain  now  most  deeply 
fixed  in  my  memory  are  these  : — '  We  grow  in  this  direction 
daily  ;  and  I  am  not  without  hope  that  some  great  thing  is  to 
be  accomplished.  When  the  hour  comes  for  dealing  with  sla 
very  I  trust  I  shall  be  willing  to  act,  though  it  costs  my  life ; 
and  gentlemen,'  he  added,  with  a  sad  smile  and  a  solemn  tone, 
'  lives  will  be  lost! 

"  Throughout  the  conversation  the  President  spoke  with  pro 
found  feeling  of  the  Southerners,  who,  he  said,  had  become  at 
an  early  day,  when  there  was  at  least  a  feeble  conscience  against 
slavery,  deeply  iiwolved  commercially  and  socially  with  the  in 
stitution  ;  he  pitied  them  heartily,  all  the  more  that  it  had  cor 
rupted  them  ;  and  he  earnestly  advised  us  to  use  what  influence 
we  might  have  to  impress  on  the  people  the  feeling  that  they 
should  be  ready  and  eager  to  share  largely  the  pecuniary 
losses  to  which  the  South  would  be  subjected  if  emancipation 


THE   EMANCIPATION   ACT.  341 

should  occur.  It  was,  he  said,  the  disease  of  the  entire  na 
tion,  and  all  must  share  the  suffering  of  its  removal.  It  was 
entirely  through  this  urgency  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  all  whom  he 
met,  that  all  the  slaves  in  the  District  of  Columbia  were  paid 
for  when  liberated  (though  many  thought  the  slave  himself 
was  the  real  owner  to  be  paid),  and  a  full  price  offered  by  Con 
gress  to  all  slave  States  that  would,  even  gradually,  emancipate 
their  slaves. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  had  much  more  fortitude  than  heroism  in  his 
temperament,  and  his  slow,  gradual  political  methods  seemed 
at  times,  when  martial  law  was  alone  possible,  like  trjdng  to 
fire  off  a  gun  a  little  at  a  time.  He  invited  popular  criticism 
as  a  means  of  knowing  what  measures,  especially  relating  to 
slavery,  the  country  was  '  up  to ;'  and  no  man  was  ever  less 
spared.  Many  of  the  abolitionists  criticised  him  fiercely,  for  he 
represented  a  policy  which  they  had  reason  to  fear  would  close 
up  the  war  power  before  it  had  crushed  the  scource  of  the 
national  troubles.  The  President  was  generally  patient  under 
these  criticisms,  which  he  knew  were  not  made  in  the  spirit  of 
personal  antagonism.  The  nearest  approach  to  a  complaint  I 
ever  heard  him  utter  was  to  Wendell  Phillips  and  some  others, 
from  Boston.  '  I  fear,'  he  said,  '  that  some  of  the  severity 
with  which  this  Administration  is  criticised,  results  from  the  fact 
that  so  many  of  us  have  had  so  long  to  act  with  minorities  that 
we  have  got  an  uncontrollable  habit  of  criticising.'  This  was 
said  with  an  unfeigned  humility,  and  the  feeling  of  all  present 
was  fitly  expressed  by  Mr.  Phillips,  who  promptly  declared  to 
the  President  that  he  knew  no  one  who  would  prefer  any  man 
for  the  next  Presidential  term  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  provided  it 
were  certain  that  the  work  of  emancipation  was  to  be  firmly 
prosecuted.  'Oh,  Mr.  Phillips,'  exclaimed  the  President,  with 
a  childlike  simplicity,  '  if  I  have  ever  indulged  that  hope,  and 
I  do  not  say  I  have  not,  it  has  long  ago  been  beaten  out  of  me.' 
He  went  to  hear  that  greatest  of  American  orators  (Mr.  Phillips) 
at  the  Smithsonian  Institute,  and  sat  calmly  to  hear  the  severe 


342  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

review  of  his  own  policy.  A  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  ed 
itors  of  the  North  American  Review,  which  has  not  before  been 
published,  I  believe,  in  England,  is  characteristic  of  his  temper. 
That  Review  had  published  an  article  entitled  '  The  President's 
Policy,'  containing  the  following  paragraph  :— 

"  '  Even  so  long  ago  as  when  Mr.  Lincoln,  not  yet  convinced 
of  the  danger  and  magnitude  of  the  crisis,  was  endeavoring  to 
persuade  himself  of  Union  majorities  at  the  South,  and  to  carry 
on  a  wai  that  was  half  peace,  in  hope  of  a  peace  that  would 
have  been  all  war ;  while  he  was  still  enforcing  the  fugitive 
slave  law,  under  some  theory  that  secession,  however  it  might 
absolve  States  from  their  obligations,  could  not  escheat  them 
of  their  claims  under  the  Constitution,  and  that  slaveholders  in 
rebellion  had  alone,  among  mortals,  the  privilege  of  having 
their  cake  and  eating  it  at  the  same  time — the  enemies  of  free 
government  were  striving  to  persuade  the  people  that  the  war 
was  an  abolition  crusade.' 

"  To  this  Mr.  Lincoln  responded,  under  date  of  January  16, 
1864,  as  follows : 

" '  GENTLEMEN  : — The  number  for  this  year  and  month  of 
the  North  American  Review  was  duly  received,  and  for  it  please 
accept  my  thanks.  Of  course  I  am  not  the  most  impartial  judge, 
yet,  with  due  allowance  for  this,  I  venture  to  hope  that  the  article 
entitled  '  The  President's  Policy '  will  be  of  value  to  the  coun 
try.  I  fear  I  am  not  quite  worthy  of  all  which  is  therein 
kindly  said  of  me  personally. 

"  The  sentence  of  twelve  lines  commencing  at  the  top  of 
page  252,  I  could  wish  to  be  not  exactly  as  it  is.  In  what  is 
there  expressed  the  writer  has  not  correctly  understood  me.  I 
have  never  had  a  theory  that  secession  could  absolve  States  or 
people  from  their  obligations.  Precisely  the  opposite  is  as 
serted  in  the  inaugural  address ;  and  it  was  because  of  my  be 
lief  in  the  continuance  of  these  obligations  that  I  was  puzzled, 
for  a  time,  as  to  denying  the  legal  rights  of  those  citizens  who  re  ' 


THE   EMANCIPATION  ACT.  343 

mained  individually  innocent  of  treason  or  rebellion.     But  I 

mean  no  more  now  than  to  merely  call  attention  to  this  point. 

'  Yours  respectfully, 

'A.  LINCOLN.' 

"  It  is  natural  that  in  the  presence  of  the  grave,  wherein 
questions  of  individual  policy  are  buried,  and  on  which  traits 
of  personal  character  bloom  with  fresh  beauty,  these  critics  of 
the  President  should  be  harshly  judged.  It  should  be  remem 
bered,  however,  that  if  the  President  had  a  heavy  burden  to 
bear,  so  had  they  who  were  set  to  watch  the  war  in  the  special 
interest  of  emancipation.  At  one  time  Mr.  Lincoln  was  pro 
posing  to  send  the  negroes  out  of  the  country,,  at  another  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  year  1900,  at  another  to  reconstruct 
States  with  a  tenth  of  their  former  population,  and  that  tenth 
made  up  exclusively  of  the  lately  disloyal  whites,  in  whose  rooted 
hatred  of  the  Union  his  patriotic  heart  found  it  impossible  to 
believe.  'But  those  words  'for  a  time,'  in  the  letter  to  the 
North  American  Review  indicated  the  fact  that  Mr.  Lincoln  grew 
as  the  people  grew.  An  able  writer  has  pronounced  the  truest 
judgment  upon  him  in  saying: — 'He  became  great — as  such 
natures  do  become  great — by  the  action  of  the  ennobling  duties 
of  such  a  station,  upon  a  mind  honest,  courageous,  conscien 
tious  and  truthful/  Mr.  Lincoln  would  be  the  last  to  be  ungener 
ous  to  his  reviewers.  In  a  conversation  with  some  western  anti- 
slavery  men,  when  I  was  present,  he  said,  good-humoredly, — 
'  Well,  gentlemen,  all  I  can  say  is,  we  shall  want  all  the  anti- 
slavery  feeling  in  the  country,  and  more ;  go  home  and  screw 
the  people  up  to  it,  and  you  may  say  any  thing  you  like  about 
me,  if  that  will  help.'  There  was,  indeed,  a  time  when  the 
country  was  much  excited  against  him,  on  account  of  the 
length  of  time  in  which  he  clung  to  a  general  about  whose 
loyalty  there  were  many  doubts,  but  about  whose  incapacity 
and  devotion  to  slavery  there  were  none  at  all.  Amongst  the 
many  protests  which  were  uttered,  some  written  by  Rev.  H.  W. 
Beecher  were  of  marked  power,  and  very  scathing.  Some  one 


344  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

clipped  these  from  the  Independent,  in  which  they  first  appeared, 
and  sent  them  to  the  President,  who  undertook,  on  a  rainy  Sun 
day,  to  read  them ;  he  had  not,  however,  read  very  far  before 
he  became  indignant,  and  leaping  from  his  chair,  exclaimed  to 
some  one  present,  'Am  I  a  dog  or  a  man?'  Nevertheless  the 
nation  very  soon  began  to  realize  the  good  effect  of  those 
articles  which,  in  the  great  rush  of  war,  had  the  fortune  to  be 
read." 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  345 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR  1862. 

OPERATIONS  IN  THE  WEST  AND  SOUTHWEST. — Battle  of  Mill  Spring,  Ky. — 
The  Bumside  Expedition. — Capture  of  Forts  Donelson  and  Henry. — 
Surrender  of  Nashville,  Tenn. — Capture  of  Fort  Pulaski. — The  Rebels 
Driven  from  Missouri. — Capture  of  Island  No.  10. — Of  Forts  Pillow 
and  Randolph,  on  the  Mississippi. — Surrender  of  Memphis. — The  Battle 
of  Pittsburg  Landing. — Proclamation  for  a  day  of  National  Thanksgiv 
ing. — Capture  of  New  Orleans. — Invasion  of  Kentucky. — Battle  of 
Corinth. — Battle  of  Murfreesboro,  and  Tennessee  freed  from  Rebel  rule. 

OPERATIONS  IN  EASTERN  VIRGINIA. — The  President  issues  an  Order  for  a 
general  advance  of  the  national  forces. — General  McClellan's  hesi 
tancy  and  delay. — Reiterated  orders  to  move. — Letter  from  the  Presi 
dent. — The  advance  on  Yorktown. — Battle  of  Williamsburg- — More 
delay,  more  Letters  arid  Orders. — Delay,  delay,  delay. — Orders,  and 
excuses  ad  infinitum  et  ad  nauseam. — The  Seven  Days'  Battles. — The 
close  of  the  Peninsula  Campaign. — Pope  placed  in  command  of  Army 
of  Virginia. — He  is  defeated. — McClellan  reinstated,  and  commences 
another  advance  on  Richmond. — The  old  story  of  delay. — The  Battle 
of  Antietam. — McClellan  relieved  from  command. — The  tPresident's 
defence  of  McClellan. — The  President's  opinion  of  McClellan. — The 
Routine  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  daily  life  at  this  period. 

LET  us  now  turn  our  attention  awhile  to  the  military 
operations  of  the  year  1862,  a  full  consideration  of 
which  is  necessary  to  a  proper  understanding  of  some 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  most  important  actions.*  These  move 
ments,  in  every  part  of  the  country,  except  in  Eastern 

*  In  tracing  the  military  history  of  the  year  1862,  we  have  largely 
availed  ourselves  of  the  excellent  resume  given  by  Hon.  II.  J.  Raymond, 
in  his  admirable  History  of  the  Administration  of  President  Lincoln,  of 
which  we  are  glad  to  learn  that  a  new  and  enlarged  edition  will  soon  ap 
pear,  from  the  press  of  Messrs.  Derby  &  Miller,  New  York. 


346  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Virginia,  were  marked  by  promptitude  and  vigor,  and 
attended  with  success  to  the  national  arms.  In  January 
the  victory  of  Mill  Springs  had  released  Western  Ken 
tucky  from  rebel  rule,  and  opened  Eastern  Tennessee  to 
an  advance  of  the  Union  armies.  Early  in  February 
following,  the  "  Burnside  Expedition"  had  effected  a 
lodgment  for  the  Union  arms  upon  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina ;  and  the  President's  order  for  an  advance  of 
all  the  forces  of  the  government  on  the  twenty-second 
of  the  same  month,  was  promptly  followed  by  the  cap 
ture  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  on  the  Cumberland 
river,  which  caused  the  evacuation  of  Bowling  Green, 
the  surrender  of  Nashville,  and  the  fall  of  Columbus, 
the  rebel  stronghold  on  the  Mississippi.  Fort  Pulaski, 
guarding  the  entrance  to  Savannah,  surrendered  after 
an  eighteen  hours'  bombardment,  on  the  twelfth  of 
April,  and  the  whole  coast  of  Florida  was  occupied  by 
the  Union  forces.  In  the  Western  Department,  General 
Halleck's  strategy  and  General  Curtis's  energy  had 
driven  General  Price  from  Missouri,  and  badly  beaten 
him  at  a  subsequent  battle  in  Arkansas.  Island 
No.  10,  commanding  the  passage  of  the  Mississippi, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  General  Pope,  and,  on  the  fourth 
of  June,  Forts  Pillow  and  Randolph,  lower  down  on 
the  same  river,  were  occupied  by  "the  boys  in  blue;" 
this  being  followed,  two  days  later,  by  the  surrender  of 
Memphis.  Then  came  the  grandly-contested  battle  of 
Pittsburg  Landing,  near  Corinth — which,  opening  as  a 
disaster,  closed  as  a  glorious  victory  to  the  national 
arms.  When  news  of  the  successes  reached  Washing 
ton,  President  Lincoln  issued  the  following  proclama 
tion  : 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  347 

"  It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  vouchsafe  signal  victories 
to  the  land  and  naval  forces  engaged  in  suppressing  an  internal 
rebellion,  and  at  the  same  time  to  avert  from  our  country  the 
dangers  of  foreign  intervention  and  invasion. 

"  It  is  therefore  recommended  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  that  at  their  next  weekly  assemblages,  in  their  accus 
tomed  places  of  public  worship,  which  shall  occur  after  the 
notice  of  this  proclamation  shall  have  been  received,  they 
especially  acknowledge  and  render  thanks  to  our  Heavenly 
Father  for  these  inestimable  blessings  ;  that  they  then  and  there 
implore  spiritual  consolation  in  behalf  of  all  those  who  have 
been  brought  into  affliction  by  the  casualties  and  calamities  of 
sedition  and  civil  war ;  and  that  they  reverently  invoke  the 
Divine  guidance  for  our  national  counsels,  to  the  end  that  they 
may  speedily  result  in  the  restoration  of  peace,  harmony  and 
unity  throughout  our  borders,  and  hasten  the  establishment  of 
fraternal  relations  among  all  the  countries  of  the  earth. 

"In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  tenth  day  of  April, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
[L.  s.]      and  sixty-two,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  the  eighty-sixth. 

"ABRAHAM  LIXCOLX. 

"  By  the  President  : 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  Stale" 

On  the  28th  of  May  the  rebels  evacuated  Corinth, 
being  vigorously  pushed  in  pursuit  by  our  forces  for 
some  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles.  In  the  latter  part  of 
April,  Hunts ville,  in  Alabama,  was  occupied  by  General 
Mitchell's  troops  ;  and  during  the  same  month,  a  formid 
able  naval  expedition,  which  had  been  fitted  out  under 
Commodore  Farragut  for  the  capture  of  New  Orleans, 
commenced  its  operations  by  an  attack  upon  Forts  Jack- 


348  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

son  and  St.  Philip,  by  which  the  passage  of  the  Missis 
sippi  below  the  city  is  guarded.  After  six  days'  bom 
bardment,  the  whole  fleet  passed  the  forts  on  the  night 
of  the  23d,  under  a  terrible  fire  from  both ;  and  on  the 
25th,  Farragut  took  possession  of  the  town. 

During  the  summer,  a  powerful  rebel  force,  under 
General  Bragg,  invaded  Kentucky,  for  the  double 
purpose  of  obtaining  supplies  and  affording  a  rallying 
point  for  what  they  believed  to  be  the  secession  senti 
ment  of  the  State.  In  the  former  object  they  were 
more  successful  than  in  the  latter.  The  number  of 
recruits  gained  was  more  than  balanced  by  their  loss  by 
desertions,  and  after  the  battle  of  Perryville,  October 
7th,  they  began  a  retreat.  On  the  oth  of  the  same 
month  occurred  the  battle  of  Corinth,  resulting  in  the 
complete  repulse  of  the  rebels  by  General  Rosecrans, 
and  the  virtual  close  of  the  campaign  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee.  A  final  effort  of  the  enemy  to  maintain 
possession  of  that  region,  led  to  a  severe  engagement  at 
Murfreesborough,  on  the  31st  of  December,  which 
resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  rebel  forces,  and  in  the 
relief  of  Tennessee  from  the  presence  of  their  armies. 

In  sad  contrast  to  these  successes  in  the  west  and 
southwest,  were  the  military  events  in  the  east.  The 
fortifications  around  the  city  of  Washington  had  been 
essentially  completed  before  the  close  of  September, 
1861,  so  that  thenceforth  a  large  portion  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  was  no  longer  needed  for  merely  de 
fensive  duty.  General  McClellan,  who  had  succeeded 
General  Scott  in  command  in  November,  1861,  officially 
estimated  his  entire  force  on  the  1st  of  December,  as 
one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  .thousand  two  hundred 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  1862.      349 

and  thirteen,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-two  were  present  for 
duty,  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1862,  as  two  hundred 
and  nineteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seven,  of 
whom  one  hundred  and  ninety-one  thousand  four  hun 
dred  and  eighty  were  "  effective."  Deducting,  there 
fore,  the  fifty-eight  thousand,  which  in  the  month  of 
October  previous  he  had  deemed  necessary  for  the  pro 
tection  and  defence  of  Washington,  he  had  at  the  begin 
ning  of  1862,  one  hundred  and  Hhirty-three  thousand 
four  hundred  and  eighty  men  with  whom  to  make 
an  aggressive  movement — a  force  certainly  twice  as 
large  as  that  of  the  enemy  who  confronted  him.  The 
season  was  unusually  favorable  for  military  operations — 
the  troops  admirably  organized  and  disciplined,  and  in 
the  highest  state  of  efficiency — in  numbers,  known 
to  be  far  superior  to  those  of  the  rebels,  while  all,  from 
the  highest  officer  to  the  humblest  private,  were  ani 
mated  with  an  eager  desire  to  be  led  against  the  enemy. 
There  was,  both  in  the  minds  of  the  Administration  and 
of  the  people,  to  use  McClellan's  own  words,  "  an 
excessive  anxiety  for  an  immediate  movement  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac."  As  the  approach  of  winter 
brought  with  it  little  or  no  indication  of  an  intended 
movement  of  our  armies,  the  public  impatience  naturally 
rose  to  the  highest  point  of  discontent.  The  Adminis 
tration,  of  course,  was  obliged  to  bear  the  responsibility 
of  these  unaccountable  delays ;  it  was  accused  of  u 
design  to  protract  the  war  for  political  purposes  of  its 
own ;  and  at  the  ensuing  fall  election  the  public  dissatis 
faction  was  strongly  manifested  by  adverse  votes  in 
every  considerable  State  where  elections  were  held. 


350  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Unable  longer  to  endure  this  state  of  affairs,  President 
Lincoln,  on  the  27th  of  January,  issued  an  order  appoint 
ing  the  22d  of  February  as  the  day  for  a  general  move 
ment  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States 
against  the  insurgent  forces.  This  general  order  was 
followed,  four  days  after,  by  a  special  command  to 
McClellan,  to  put  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  motion 
towards  Manassas,  with  the  object  of  engaging  the  rebel 
army  in  front  of  Washington  by  a  flank  attack,  and  by 
its  defeat,  relieve  that  city,  put  Richmond  at  our  mercy, 
and  break  the  main  strength  of  the  rebellion  by  the 
destruction  of  its  principal  army.  Against  this  the 
dilatory  general  remonstrated,  and  urged  a  plan  of  his 
own,  which  elicited  from  Mr.  Lincoln  the  following 
letter  of  inquiry : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  February  3, 1862. 

"MY  DEAK  SIR: — You  and  I  have  distinct  and  different 
plans  for  a  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac ;  yours  to 
be  done  by  the  Chesapeake,  up  the  Eappahannock  to  Urbana, 
and  across  land  to  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  on  the  York 
river ;  mine  to  move  directly  to  a  point  on  the  railroad  south 
west  of  Manassas. 

"If  you  will  give  satisfactory  answers  to  the  following 
questions,  I  shall  gladly  yield  my  plan  to  yours: 

"  1st.  Does  not  your  plan  involve  a  greatly  larger  expenditure 
of  time  and  money  than  mine  ? 

"2d.  Wherein  is  a  victory  more  certain  by  your  plan  than 
mine  ? 

"3d.  Wherein  is  a  victory  more  valuable  by  your  plan  than 
mine  ? 

"  4th.  In  fact,  would  it  not  be  less  valuable  in  this :  that 
it  would  break  no  great  line  of  the  enemy's  communications, 
while  mine  would? 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  351 

"5th.  In  case  of  disaster,  would  not  a  retreat  be  more  diffi 
cult  by  your  plan  than  mine  ? 

"  Yours  truly,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  MAJOR-GENERAL  MCCLELLAN." 

These  plain  test-questions  were  never  directly  met. 
The  subject  remained  for  some  time  under  consideration, 
the  President's  order  not  withdrawn,  but  its  execution 
suspended,  while  McClellan,  under  urgent  pressure  from 
his  superiors,  commenced  to  open  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  railroad.  On  the  26th  of  February  he  announced 
the  occupation  of  London,  Bolivar  and  Maryland 
Heights,  by  our  troops,  and  the  expected  arrival  of  a 
large  force  of  rebels  at  Winchester.  Then,  after  con 
siderable  delay,  as  well  as  expense,  in  the  construction 
of  canal  boats  for  crossing  the  upper  Potomac,  he  found, 
on  proceeding  to  use  them  (a  considerable  force  intended 
for  Winchester  being  already  under  orders),  that  "the 
lift-lock"  was  too  small  to  allow  of  the  boats  passing  to 
their  destination.  This  provoked  from  Mr.  Stanton  this 
laconic  reply :  "  General  McClellan — If  the  lift-lock  is 
not  big  enough,  why  cannot  it  be  made  big  enough? 
Please  answer  immediately."  But,  as  to  do  this,  the 
entire  masonry  must  be  destroyed  and  rebuilt,  the  boats 
so  long  and  patiently  waited  for,  were  dispensed  with, 
and  marching  orders  countermanded. 

The  general,  after  having  revoked  an  order  already 
given  for  raising  the  blockade  of  the  Potomac — a 
measure  earnestly  desired  by  the  Administration — then 
returned  to  Washington,  and  began  the  movement 
on  Manassas,  as  required  by  the  President's  order  of 
January  31st — a  full  month  having  now  intervened. 
Then  followed  the  campaign  of  Generals  Shields  and 


352  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Banks,  in  the  Shenandoah  valley — resulting  in  the 
retreat  of  the  rebels,  and  the  comparative  quiet  of  that 
section  of  the  country,  for  the  ensuing  two  months. 

The  results  at  Harper's  Ferry,  as  well  as  the  delay  in 
raising  the  blockade  of  the  lower  Potomac,  were  far 
from  satisfactory  to  the  President.  The  day  fixed  for  a 
general  movement  had  passed,  and  the  advance  on 
Richmond  by  the  Chesapeake  was  by  this  time  imprac 
ticable,  unless  by  the  roundabout  way  of  Annapolis, 
until  the  Potomac  had  first  been  cleared  of  the  rebel 
batteries.  Meanwhile,  as  early  as  the  loth  of  Febru 
ary,  measures  had  been  taken  by  the  Secretary  of  War 
to  secure  with  promptness  the  necessary  transportation 
by  water,  for  the  forces  to  be  moved ;  a  fact  fully  indi 
cating  the  willingness  of  the  Administration  to  acquiesce 
in  a  plan  on  which  the  commanding  general  seemed  to 
have  set  his  heart,  rather  than  to  insist  on  a  preferable 
movement,  yet  which  could  hardly  be  expected  to 
succeed  under  the  reluctant  generalship  of  one  who  felt 
no  confidence  in  its  success,  and  who  evinced  no  alacrity 
in  its  execution. 

McClellan  still  hesitated,  conjuring  up  all  manner  of 
possible  contingencies,  which  might  prove  insuperable 
obstacles  to  the  President's  plan ;  and  finally,  wearied 
with  his  steady  resistance  and  unwillingness  to  enter 
upon  the  prosecution  of  any  other  than  his  own  plan, 
Mr.  Lincoln  consented  to  submit  the  matter  to  a  council 
of  twelve  officers  held  late  in  February,  at  headquarters. 
The  decision  of  this  council,  although  unfavorable  to  his 
own  views,  was  promptly  acquiesced  in  by  the  President, 
who,  thereupon,  ordered  the  organization  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  into  four  army  corps ;  making  full  pro- 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF    THE   YEAR    18G2.  353 

vision,  however,  for  the  full  protection  and  security  of 
Washington.  On  the  9th  of  March,  the  day  following 
the  order,  McClellan,  learning  that  the  enemy  had 
abandoned  his  position  in  front  of  Washington,  led  his 
troops  on  what  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  one  of  his  staff, 
styled  ua  promenade"  to  Manassas,  which  they  found 
abandoned  by  the  enemy ;  and  on  the  15th,  the  army 
was  ordered  back  to  Alexandria. 

About  this  time,  also,  occurred  the  celebrated  naval 
contest  between  the  formidable  rebel  iron-clad  "  Merri- 
mac"  .(or  Virginia)  and  the  hitherto  untried  Ericsson 
"  Monitor,"  and  which  not  only  startled  the  whole 
country,  but  produced  such  a  marked  inflence  in  regard 
to  naval  armaments  everywhere. 

On  the  llth,  McClellan  having  personally  taken  the 
field  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was 
relieved  from  command  of  his  department..  General 
Halleck  was  assigned  to  the  Department  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  the  Mountain  Department  was  created  for 
General  Fremont. 

These  matters  having  been  arranged,  the  following 
communication  was  addressed  to  the  commanding  gene 
ral  : 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  March  13,  1862. 

"The  President  having  considered  the  plan  of  operations  agreed 
upon  by  yourself  and  the  commanders  of  army  corps,  makes  no 
objection  to  the  same,  but  gives  the  following  directions  as  to 
its  execution : 

"1.  Leave  such  force  at  Manassas  Junction  as  shall  make  it 
entirely  certain  that  the  enemy  shall  not  repossess  himself  of  that 
position  and  line  of  communication. 

"  2.  Leave  Washington  entirely  secure. 

"  3.  Move  the  remainder  of  the  force  down  the  Potomac, 
23 


• 


3C4  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

choosing  a  new  base  at  Fortress  Monroe,  or  anywhere  between 
here  and  there,  or,  at  all  events,  move  such  remainder  of  the  army 
at  once  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy  by  some  route. 

"  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 
"  Major-General  GEOKGE  B.  MCCLELLAN." 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  tone  of  these  orders,  that  the 
President,  as  well  as  the  whole  country,  had  been  greatly 
amazed 'by  the  unaccountable  delay  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  to  move  against  the  enemy  at  Manassas,  and 
that  this  feeling  became  one  of  chagrin  and  mortification 
when  the  rebels  were  allowed  to  withdraw  from  that 
position  without  molestation,  and  without  suspicion  until 
their  design  had  been  carried  into  complete  and  success 
ful  execution.  He  was  impatiently  anxious,  therefore, 
that  no  more  time  should  be  lost  in  delays.  General 
McClellan,  before  embarking  for  the  Peninsula,  had 
communicated  his  intention  of  reaching,  without  loss  of 
time,  the  field  of  what  he  believed  would  be  a  decisive 
battle,  somewhere  between  West  Point  and  Eichmond. 
On  the  31st  of  March,  the  President,  in  yielding  to  the 
importunities  of  General  Fremont  and  his  friends,  and 
from  a  belief  that  this  officer  needed  a  much  larger  force 
than  he  then  had  at  his  command  in  the  Mountain  Depart 
ment,  ordered  General  Blenker's  division,  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  to  join  him,  a  decision  which  he  announced 
to  General  McClellan  in  the  following  letter : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1862. 

"  MY  DEAR  Sm :  This  morning  I  felt  constrained  to  order 

Blenker's  division  to  Fremont,  and  I  write  this  to  assure  you  I 

did  so  with  great  pain,  understanding  that  you  would  wish  it 

otherwise.     If  you  could  know  the  full  pressure  of  the  case,  I 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR  1862.  355 

am  confident  that  you  would  justify  it,  even  beyond  a  mere 
acknowledgment  that  the  Commander-in-Chief  may  order  what 
he  pleases. 

"  Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

"  Major-General  McCLELLAN." 

McClellan  being  now  in  motion  up  the  Peninsula, 
halted  in  the  vicinity  of  Yorktown,  and  reconnoitred, 
writing  on  the  sixth  to  the  President  that  he  had  but 
eighty-five  thousand  men  fit  for  duty — that  the  whole 
line  of  the  Warwick  river  was  strongly  fortified — that 
it  was  quite  certain  that  he  should  "  have  the  whole  force 
of  the  enemy  on  his  hands,  probably  not  less  than  one 
hundred  thousand  men,  and  probably  more."  and  that 
seige  operations  should  be  commenced  as  soon  as  he  could 
could  get  up  his  train.  He  entered,  accordingly,  upon 
this  work,  telegraphing  from  time  to  time  complaints 
that  he  was  not  sufficiently  supported  by  the  government, 
and  asking  for  reinforcements. 

On  the  9th  of  April  President  Lincoln  addressed  him 
the  following  letter  : 

"WASHINGTON,  April  9,  1862. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  dispatches,  complaining  that  you  are 
not  properly  sustained,  while  they  do  not  offend  me,  do  pain 
me  very  much. 

"Blenker's  division  was  withdrawn  from  you  before  you  left 
here,  and  you  know  the  pressure  under  which  I  did  it,  and,  as 
I  thought,  acquiesced  in  it — certainly  not  without  reluctance. 

"  After  you  left,  I  ascertained  that  less  than  twenty  thousand 
unorganized  men,  without  a  single  field  battery,  were  all  you 
designed  to  be  left  for  the  defence  of  Washington  and  Manassas 
Junction,  and  part  of  this  even  was  to  go  to  General  Hooker's 
old  position.  General  Banks's  corps,  once  designed  for  Man- 


356  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

assas  Junction,  was  diverted  and  tied  up  on  the  line  of  Winches 
ter  and  Strasburg,  and  could  not  leave  it  without  again  exposing 
the  Upper  Potomac  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Eailroad. 
This' presented,  or  would  present,  when  McDowell  and  Sumner 
should  be  gone,  a  great  temptation  to  the  enemy  to  turn  back 
from  the  Kappahannock  and  sack  Washington.  My  implicit 
order  that  Washington  should,  by  the  judgment  of  all  the  com 
manders  of  army  corps,  be  left  entirely  secure,  had  been  neg 
lected.  It  was  precisely  this  that  drove  me  to  detain  McDowell. 

"  I  do  not  forget  that  I  was  satisfied  with  your  arrangement  to 
leave  Banks  at  Manassas  Junction ;  but  when  that  arrangement 
was  broken  up,  and  nothing  was  substituted  for  it,  of  course  I 
was  constrained  to  substitute  something  for  it  myself.  And 
allow  me  to  ask,  do  you  really  think  I  should  permit  the  line 
from  Richmond,  via  Manassas  Junction  to  this  city,  to  be  en 
tirely  open,  except  what  resistance  could  be  presented  by  less 
than  twenty  thousand  unorganized  troops  ?  This  is  a  question 
which  the  country  will  not  allow  me  to  evade. 

"  There  is  a  curious  mystery  about  the  number  of  troops 
now  with  you.  When  I  telegraphed  you  on  the  sixth,  saying 
you  had  over  a  hundred  thousand  with  you,  I  had  just  obtained 
from  the  Secretary  of  War  a  statement  taken,  as  he  said,  from 
your  own  returns,  making  one  hundred  and  eight  thousand  then 
with  you  and  en  route  to  you.  You  now  say  you  will  have  but 
eighty-five  thousand  when  all  en  route  to  you  shall  have  reached 
you.  How  can  the  discrepancy  of  twenty-three  thousand  be 
accounted  for  ?* 

*  Gen.  McClellan,  in  the  early  part  of  that  report,  quotes,  without  con 
tradiction  or  objection,  the  following  statement  of  Mr.  Tucker,  Assistant 
Secretary  of  War,  showing  that  he  had  landed  at  Fortress  Monroe,  by  the 
6th  day  of  April  (having  received  the  final  order  as  early  as  the  28th 
of  February),  121,500  men  for  McClellan,  with  a  number  of  wagons  and 
animals  manifestly  well  proportioned  to  these  numbers  : 

"  In  thirty-seven  days  from  the  time  I  received  the  order  in  Washington 
(and  most  of  it  was  accomplished  in  thirty  days),  these  vessels  transported 
from  Perryville,  Alexandria,  and  Washington  to  Fort  Monroe  (the  place 


MILITARY    OPERATIOXS    OF    THE    YEAR   1862.  357 

"  As  to  General  "Wool's  command,  I  understand  it  is  doing 
for  you  precisely  what  a  like  number  of  your  own  would  have 
to  do  if  that  command  was  away. 

"  I  suppose  the  whole  force  which  has  gone  forward  for  you 
is  with  you  by  this  time.  And  if  so,  I  think  it  is  the  precise 
time  for  you  to  strike  a  blow.  By  delay  the  enemy  will  rela 
tively  gain  upon  you — that  is,  he  will  gain  faster  by  fortifications 
and  reinforcements  than  you  can  by  reinforcements  alone. 
And  once  more  let  me  tell  you,  it  is  indispensable  to  you  to 
strike  a  blow.  I  am  powerless  to  help  this.  You  will  do  me 
the  justice  to  remember  I  always  insisted  that  going  down  the  bay 
in  search  of  a  field,  instead  of  fighting  at  or  near  Manassas,  was 
only  shifting,  and  not  surmounting,  a  difficulty  •  that  we  would 
find  the  same  enemy,  and  the  same  or  equal  intrenchments,  at  either 
place.  The  country  will  not  fail  to  note,  is  now  noting,  that  the 
present  hesitation  to  move  upon  an  intrenched  enemy  is  but  the  story 
of  Manassas  repeated. 

"  I  beg  to  assure  you  that  I  have  never  written  you  or  spoken 
to  you  in  greater  kindness  of  feeling  than  now,  nor  with  a  fuller 
purpose  to  sustain  you,  so  far  as,  in  my  most  anxious  judgment, 
I  consistently  can.  But  you  must  act. 

"  Yours,  very  truly,  "  A.  LINCOLN. 

"  Major-General  McCLELLAN." 

of  departure  having  been  changed,  which  caused  delay),  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one  thousand  five  hundred  men,  fourteen  thousand  five  hundred 
and  ninety-two  animals,  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  wagons, 
forty-four  batteries,  seventy-four  ambulances,  besides  pontoon  bridges,  tele 
graph  materials,  and  the  enormous  quantity  of  equipage,  etc.,  required  for 
an  army  of  such  magnitude." 

Yet  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  President  on  the  7th  of  April:  "My 
entire  force  for  duty  only  amounts  to  85,000."  Six  days  later,  before  receiv 
ing  reinforcements,  McClellan  himself  reported  his  force  (as  officially  certi 
fied  by  Adj.-Gen.  Thomas,)  to  be  117,721,  of  whom  100,970  were  present  for 
duty.  In  addition  to  this  was  the  considerable  force  of  Gen.  Wool,  on 
which  he  was  authorized  to  draw  at  will.  McDowell's  command  also,  had 
been,  so  far  as  practicable,  put  in  a  position  for  at  once  sustaining  him 
and  covering  Washington. 


358  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

In  this  letter  the  President  but  echoed  the  impatience 
and  eagerness  of  the  whole  country.  The  most  careful 
inquiries  made,  at  the  time,  by  General  Wool,  satisfied 
him  that  Yorktown  was  held  by  an  inconsiderable  force 
of  the  enemy;  and  subsequent  disclosures  rendered  it 
quite  certain  that  this  force  was  utterly  inadequate  to 
the  defence  of  the  position,  so  that  a  prompt  movement 
upon  it  would  have  caused  its  immediate  surrender,  and 
enabled  our  army  to  advance  at  once  upon  Richmond. 

The  President,  in  a  note  dated  April  6th,  had  said  to 
General  McClellan : 

"  You  now  have  over  one  hundred  thousand  troops  with  you, 
independent  of  Gen.  Wool's  command.  /  think  you  had  letter 
break  the  enemy's  line  from  Yorldown  to  Warwick  river  at  once. 
They  will  probably  use  time  as  advantageously  as  you  can." 

In  disregarding  this  pointed  and  sensible  advice — a 
grave,  though  not  irretrievable,  error  was  committed  at 
the  outset  of  the  campaign.  General  Burnside  had 
accomplished,  at  Newbern,  on  the  14th  of  the  previous 
month,  an  incomparably  more  difficult  task  in  carrying 
the  works  of  the  enemy,  when  manned  by  numbers  fully 
equal  to  his  own,  and  this  was  done,  also,  with  compa 
ratively  raw  recruits. 

General  McClellan  decided,  however,  to  approach  it 
by  a  regular  siege ;  and  it  was  not  until  this  design  had 
become  apparent,  that  the  rebel  government  began  to 
reinforce  Magruder.*  He  continued  his  requests  for 

*  Extract  from  Gen.  Magruder's  official  report  of  May  3d,  1862,  as 
published  by  order  of  the  Confederate  Congress :  "  Every  preparation 
was  made  in  anticipation  of  another  attack  by  the  enemy.  The  men  slept 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF    THE    YEAH    1862.  359 

additional  reinforcements,  transportation  and  cannon,  all 
of  which  were  forwarded  to  him  as  promptly  and  lavishly 
as  possible.  Meanwhile  thousands  sickened  and  died 
in  the  trenches.  The  nation  grew  weary  of  the  same 
disheartening  news,  day  by  day,  and  week  after  week. 

Presently  there  came  a  request  for  Parott  guns,  which 
drew  from  the  President  the  following  response  : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  May  I,  1862. 
"  MAJOK-GENERAL  MCCLELLAN  : — Your  call  for  Parott  guns 
from  Washington  alarms  me — chiefly  because  it   argues   in 
definite  procrastination.     Is  any  thing  to  be  done  ? 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

After  a  month  spent  in  this  way,  the  President  urging 
action  with  the  utmost  earnestness,  and  the  general 
delaying  from  day  to  day  on  all  sorts  of  pretexts, 
our  army  woke  up  one  fine  morning  (the  4th  of  May) 
to  find  that  Yorktown,  which  they  had  so  carefully 
watched,  was  entirely  empty — and  nothing  remained  for 
McClellan  but  to  promise,  as  he  did  in  announcing  the 
event  to  the  government,  that  "no  time  would  be 
lost"  in  the  pursuit,  and  that  he  should  "push  the 
enemy  to  the  wall."  General  Stoneman  was,  indeed, 
sent  forward  with  a  column  of  cavalry  to  overtake 

in  the  trenches  and  under  arms,  but,  to  my  utter  surprise,  lie  permitted  day 
after  day  to  elapse  without  an  assault. 

"  In  a  few  days  the  object  of  his  delay  was  apparent.  In  every  direction 
in  front  of  our  lines,  through  the  intervening  woods  and  along  the  open 
fields,  earthworks  began  to  appear.  Through  the  energetic  action  of  the 
government  reinforcements  began  to  pour  in,  and  each  hour  the  army  of 
the  Peninsula  grew  stronger  and  stronger,  until  anxiety  passed  from  my 
mind  as  to  the  result  of  any  attack  upon  us. 
*  *  *  * 

"  J.  BANKHEAD  MAGRUDER,  Major-General.11 


360  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  retreating  enemy,  which  he  succeeded  in  doing 
on  the  same  day,  and  was  repulsed.  On  the  5th. 
the  advance-guard  came  up  and  found  the  rebel 
rear-guard  strongly  fortified,  and  prepared  to  dispute 
the  advance  of  their  pursuers.  Then  ensued  the 
battle  of  Williamsburg,  gallantly  fought  almost  with 
out  the  knowledge  of  the  commanding  general,  who, 
indeed,  was  exceedingly  dissatisfied  with  his  corps 
commanders  for  venturing  the  engagement  in  his  absence. 
It  resulted,  however,  in  the  enemy's  abandonment  of  his 
position  and  retreat  up  the  Peninsula. 

General  McClellan  did  not  understand  that  this  was 
simply  an  attempt  of  the  rebel  rear-guard  to  cover  the 
retreat  of  the  main  force.  He  countermanded  an  order 
for  the  advance  of  two  divisions;  sent  them  back 
to  Yorktown ;  and  in  a  despatch  sent  to  the  War 
Department  the  same  night,  he  speaks  of  the  battle 
as  an  engagement  with  the  whole  rebel  army.  "  I 
find,"  he  says,  "  General  Joe  Johnson  in  front  of  me  in 
strong  force,  probably  greater,  a  good  deal,  than  my 
own."  Reiterating  his  complaints  of  the  inferiority  of 
his  command,  he  promises  to  do  all  he  can  "  with  the 
•force  at  his  disposal,"  and  to  "  run  the  risk  of  at  least 
holding  them  in  check  here  (at  Williamsburg)  while  he 
resumed  the  original  plan" — which  was  to  move  Frank 
lin's  corps  to  West  Point  by  water.  The  direct  pursuit 
of  the  retreating  rebel  army,  however,  was  abandoned — 
owing,  as  the  general  said,  to  the  bad  state  of  the  roads, 
which  rendered  it  impracticable.  Five  days  spent  at 
Williamsburg,  enabled  the  rebels,  notwithstanding  the 
"  state  of  the  roads,"  to  withdraw  their  whole  force 
across  the  Chickahominy,  and  establish  themselves 


MILITARY  OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  361 

within  the  fortifications  in  front  of  Kichmond;  and 
when,  on  the  morning  of  the  7th,  General  Franklin 
landed  at  West  Point,  he  was  too  late  to  intercept  the 
main  body  of  the  retreating  enemy,  but  was  met  by  a 
strong  rear-guard,  with  whom  he  had  a  sharp  and  fruit 
less  engagement. 

Norfolk,  in  the  meantime,  had  been  taken  by  Genera*! 
Wool,  and  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War  were  on 
a  visit  at  Fortress  Monroe.  It  was  while  here  that  the 
Secretary  of  War  received  the  following  despatch  from 
General  McClellan,  dated  May  9  : 

"  To  HON.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War: — I  respectfully 
ask  permission  to  re-organize  the  army  corps.  I  am  not  willing 
to  be  held  responsible  for  the  present  arrangement,  experience 
having  proved  it  to  be  very  bad,  and  it  having  nearly  resulted 
in  a  most  disastrous  defeat.  I  wish  rather  to  return  to  the 
organization  by  divisions,  or  else  to  be  authorized  to  relieve 
incompetent  commanders  of  army  corps.  Had  I  been  one-half 
hour  later  on  the  field  on  the  5th,  we  would  have  been  routed, 
and  would  have  lost  every  thing.  Notwithstanding  rny  positive 
orders,  I  was  informed  of  nothing  that  had  occurred,  and  I  went 
to  the  field  of  battle  myself  upon  unofficial  information  that 
my  presence  was  needed  to  avoid  defeat.  I  found  there 
the  utmost  confusion  and  incompetency,  the  utmost  discourage 
ment  on  the  part  of  the  men.  At  least  a  thousand  lives  were 
really  sacrificed  by  the  organization  into  corps.  I  have 
too  much  regard  for  the  lives  of  my  comrades,  and  too  deep  an 
interest  in  the  success  of  our  cause,  to  hesitate  for  a  moment. 
I  learn  that  you  are  equally  in  earnest,  and  I  therefore  again 
request  full  and  complete  authority  to  relieve  from  duty  with 
this  army  commanders  of  corps  or  divisions  who  find  them 
selves  incompetent. 

" G.  B.  McCLELLAN,  Major- General  Commanding" 


302  THE     LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

To  this  Secretary  Stanton  replied,  in  substance : 
"  The  President  directs  me  to  say  that  you  '  may  tem 
porarily  suspend  that  organization  in  the  army  now 
under  your  immediate  command,  and  adopt  any  you  see 
fit  until  further  orders.'  He  also  writes  you  privately." 
The  President's  letter,  thus  referred  to,  is  as  follows : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA,      ) 
FORT  MONEOE,  VA.,  May  9,  1862.  f 

"  MAJOR-GENERAL  MCCLELLAN  : 

"MY  DEAR  SIR:— I  have  just  assisted  the  Secretary  of  War 
in  framing  the  part  of  a  despatch  to  you  relating  to  army  corps, 
which  despatch,  of  course,  will  have  reached  you  long  before 
this  will.  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  to  you  privately  on  this 
subject.  I  ordered  the  army  corps  organization  not  only  on 
the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  twelve  generals  whom  you  had 
selected  and  assigned  as  generals  of  divisions,  but  also  on  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  every  military  man  I  could  get  an 
opinion  from,  and  every  modern  military  book,  yourself  only 
excepted.  Of  course,  I  did  not  on  my  own  judgment  pretend 
to  understand  the  subject.  I  now  think  it  indispensable  for 
you  to  know  how  your  struggle  against  it  is  received  in 
quarters  which  we  cannot  entirely  disregard.  It  is  looked 
upon  as  merely  an  effort  to  pamper  one  or  two  pets,  and 
to  persecute  and  degrade  their  supposed  rivals.  I  have  had  no 
word  from  Sumner,  Heintzelman,  or  Keyes — the  commanders 
of  these  corps  are,  of  course,  the  three  highest  officers  with  you  ; 
but  I  am  constantly  told  that  you  have  no  consultation  or  com 
munication  with  them ;  that  you  consult  and  communicate  with 
nobody  but  General  Fitz  John  Porter,  and  perhaps  General 
Franklin.  I  do  not  say  these  complaints  are  true  or  just ;  but, 
at  all  events,  it  is  proper  you  should  know  of  their  existence. 
Do  the  commanders  of  corps  disobey  your  orders  in  any  thing  ? 

"  When  you  relieved  General  Hamilton  of  his  command  the 
other  day,  you  thereby  lost  the  confidence  of  at  least  one 
of  your  best  friends  in  the  Senate.  And  here  let  me  say,  not 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS    OF    THE    YEAR    1862.  363 

as  applicable  to  you  personally,  that  Senators  and  Representa 
tives  speak  of  me  in  their  places  as  they  please  without 
question,  and  that  officers  of  the  army  must  cease  addressing 
insulting  letters  to  them  for  taking  no  greater  liberty  with 
them.  * 

"But  to  return.  Are  you  strong  enough — are  you  strong 
enough  even  with  my  help — to  set  your  foot  upon  the  necks  of 
Sumner,  Heintzelman  and  Keyes  all  at  once?  This  is  a 
practical  and  very  serious  question  to  you. 

"  The  success  of  your  army  and  the  cause  of  the  country  are 
the  same,  and  of  course  I  only  desire  the  good  of  the  cause. 
"  Yours  truly,  A.  LINCOLN." 

General  McClellan  did  not  conclude  to  make  the 
changes  which  he  had  pronounced  so  indispensable. 

Again  McClellan  began  to  prepare  for  fighting  the 
"  decisive  battle"  which  had  constantly  been  looming 
before  his  eyes  like  a  "  will-o'-the-wisp,"  since  the  retreat 
of  the  Confederates  from  Manassas;  but  a  dispropor 
tionate  amount  of  his  time  was  wasted  in  making  out  a 
case  of  neglect  against  the  government.  On  the  10th 
of  May,  having  then  advanced  only  three  miles  beyond 
Williamsburg,  he  sent  a  long  despatch  to  the  War 
Department,  reiterating  his  conviction  that  the  rebels 
were  about  to  dispute  his  advance  with  their  whole 
force,  and  asking  for  "  every  man"  the  government 
could  send  him.  Unless  reinforced,  he  would  probably 
be  "  obliged  to  fight  nearly  double  his  numbers  strongly 
intrenched."  Ten  days  previously  the  official  returns 
showed  that  he  had  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
men  under  his  command.  On  the  14th,  he  again  tele 
graphed  the  President  his  fears  that  he  was  confronted 
by  overwhelming  numbers,  saying  that  he  could  not 
bring  more  than  eighty  thousand  men  into  the  field,  and 


364  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

again  asking  for  "  every  man"  that  could  be  sent  him. 
Even  if  not  needed  for  military  purposes,  he  thought  a 
great  display  of  imposing  force  in  the  capital  of  the 
rebel  government  would  Jiave  the  best  moral  effect. 
Alas !  he  was  never  destined  to  lead  the  armies  of  the 
Union  into  the  rebel  capital. 

In  reply,  he  was  informed  of  the  unwillingness  of 
the  President  "  to  uncover  the  capital  entirely,"  but  that 
General  McDowell  had  been  ordered  to  co-operate  with 
him,  by  marching  upon  Richmond  by  the  shortest 
route ;  always,  however,  "  keeping  himself  in  position 
to  save  the  capital  from  all  possible  attack ;"  and  retain 
ing  the  command  of  his  own  troops,  and  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Rappahannock. 

In  reply  to  this,  on  the  21st  of  May  General  McClellan 
repeated  his  fears  of  the  overwhelming  force  of  the 
rebels ;  and  urged  that  General  McDowell  should  join 
him  by  ivater  instead  of  by  land,  going  down  the  Rap 
pahannock  and  the  bay  to  Fortress  Monroe,  and  then 
ascending  the  York  and  Pamunkey  rivers,  although  he 
feared  there  was  "little  hope  that  he  could  join  him 
overland  in  time  for  the  coming  battle.  Delays,"  he 
said,  "  on  my  part  will  be  dangerous :  I  fear  sickness 
and  demoralization.  This  region  is  unhealthy  for  nor 
thern  men,  and  unless  kept  moving,  I  fear  that  our 
soldiers  may  become  discouraged."  He  urged  that 
McDowell  should  be  put  more  completely  under  his 
command,  and  declared  that  a  movement  by  land  would 
uncover  Washington  quite  as  completely  as  one  by  water. 
He,  however,  gave  no  instructions,  as  required,  for  sup 
plying  McDowell's  forces  on  their  arrival  at  West  Point. 

The  jealous    sensitiveness    exhibited   by   McClellan 


MILITARY  OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  365 

in  this  letter,  was  thus  met  by  the  following  reply  from 
President  Lincoln  : 

"WASHINGTON,  May  24;th,  1862. 

"  I  left  General  McDowell's  camp  at  dark  last  evening. 
Shields's  command  is  there,  but  it  is  so  worn  that  he  cannot 
move  before  Monday  morning,  the  26th.  We  have  so  thinned 
our  line  to  get  troops  for  other  places  that  it  was  broken  yester 
day  at  Front  Royal,  with  a  probable  loss  to  us  of  one  regiment 
infantry,  two  companies  cavalry,  putting  General  Banks  in 
some  peril. 

"  The  enemy's  forces,  under  General  Anderson,  now  opposing 
General  McDowell's  advance,  have,  as  their  line  of  supply  and 
retreat,  the  road  to  Richmond. 

"If,  in  conjunction  with  McDowell's  movement  against 
Anderson,  you  could  send  a  force  from  your  right  to  cut  off  the 
enemy's  supplies  from  Richmond,  preserve  the  railroad  bridge 
across  the  two  forks  of  the  Pamunkey,  and  intercept  the  enemy's 
retreat,  you  will  prevent  the  army  now  opposed  to  you  from 
receiving  an  accession  of  numbers  of  nearly  fifteen  thousand 
men ;  and  if  you  succeed  in  saving  the  bridges,  you  will  secure 
a  line  of  railroad  for  supplies  in  addition  to  the  one  you  now 
have.  Can  you  not  do  this  almost  as  well  as  not,  while  you 
are  building  the  Chickahominy  bridges  ?  McDowell  and 
Shields  both  say  they  can,  and  positively  will  move  Monday 
morning.  I  wish  you  to  move  cautiously  and  safely. 

"  You  will  have  command  of  McDowell,  after  he  joins  you,  pre 
cisely  as  you  indicated  in  your  long  despatch  to  us  of  the  21s£. 

"  A.  LINCOLN,  President. 
"  Major-General  G.  B.  MCCLELLAN." 

General  Banks  had  been  sent  by  General  McClellan 
on  the  1st  of  April,  to  guard  the  approaches  to  Wash 
ington  by  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  which  were 
even  then  menaced  by  a  considerable  rebel  force.  A 


366  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

conviction  of  the  entire  insufficiency  of  the  forces  left 
for  the  protection  of  the  capital,  led  to  the  retention  of 
McDowell,  from  whose  command,  however,  upon  General 
McClellan's  urgent  and  impatient  applications,  general 
Franklin's  division  had  been  detached.  Of  this  the 
President  promptly  informed  the  commanding  general, 
at  the  same  time  clearly  stating  the  emergency  which 
had  compelled  this  change  of  plan. 

But  McClellan,  thinking  only  of  himself,  and  appa 
rently  unable  or  unwilling  to  concede  any  thing  to  the 
necessities  of  brave  comrades  elsewhere  in  the  field, 
remonstrated  against  the  diversion  of  McDowell. 

.    "WASHINGTON,  May  25th,  1862. 

"Your  despatch  received.  General  Banks  was  at  Strasburg 
with  about  six  thousand  men,  Shields  having  been  taken  from 
aim  to  swell  a  column  for  McDowell  to  aid  you  at  Richmond, 
and  the  rest  of  his  force  scattered  at  various  places.  On  the 
23d,  a  rebel  force  of  seven  to  ten  thousand  fell  upon  one  regi 
ment  and  two  companies  guarding  the  bridge  at  Port  Royal, 
destroying  it  entirely ;  crossed  the  Shenandoah,  and  on  the  24th, 
yesterday,  pushed  on  to  get  north  of  Banks  on  the  road  to 
Winchester.  General  Banks  ran  a  race  with  them,  beating 
them  into  Winchester  yesterday  evening.  This  morning  a 
battle  ensued  between  the  two  forces,  in  which  General  Banks 
was  beaten  back  into  fall  retreat  toward  Martinsburg,  and 
probably  is  broken  up  into  a  total  rout.  Geary,  on  the 
Manassas  Gap  railroad,  just  now  reports  that  Jackson  is  now 
near  Front  Royal  with  ten  thousand  troops,  following  up  and 
supporting,  as  I  understand,  the  force  now  pursuing  Banks. 
Also,  that  another  force  of  ten  thousand  is  near  Orleans,  follow 
ing  on  in  the  same  direction.  Stripped  bare,  as  we  are  here,  I 
will  do  all  we  can  to  prevent  them  crossing  the  Potomac  at 
Harper's  Ferry  or  above.  McDowell  has  about  twenty  thou- 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR    1862.  367 

sand  of  his  forces  moving  back  to  the  vicinity  of  Front  Koyal ; 
and  Fremont,  who  was  at  Franklin,  is  moving  to  Harrisburg ; 
both  these  movements  intended  to  get  in  the  enemy's  rear. 

"  One  more  of  McDowell's  brigades  is  ordered  through  here 
to  Harper's  Ferry ;  the  rest  of  his  forces  remain  for  the  present 
at  Fredericksburg.  We  are  sending  such  regiments  and  dribs 
from  here  and  Baltimore  as  we  can  spare  to  Harper's  Ferry, 
supplying  their  places  in  some  sort,  calling  in  militia  from  the 
adjacent  States.  We  also  have  eighteen  cannon  on  the  road  to 
Harper's  Ferry,  of  which  arm  there  is  not  a  single  one  at  that 
point.  This  is  now  our  situation. 

"  If  McDowell's  force  was  now  beyond  our  reach,  we  should  be 
entirely  helpless.  Apprehensions  of  something  like  this,  and  no 
unwillingness  to  sustain  you,  has  always  been  my  reason  for  with 
holding  McDowell's  forces  from  you. 

"  Please  understand  this,  and  do  the  best  you  can  with  the 
forces  you  have. 

"A.  LINCOLN. 
"  Major-General  McCLELLAN." 

Jackson  made  a  triumphant  march  through  the 
Shenandoah  valley,  and  for  a  time  it  seemed  as  if 
nothing  could  prevent  his  crossing  the  Potomac,  and 
appearing  in  the  rear  of  Washington.  The  President 
promptly  announced  this  state  of  things  to  General 
McClellan  in  the  following  despatch  : 

"  WASHINGTON,  May  25th,  1862—2  P.  M. 
"The  enemy  is  moving  north  in  sufficient  force  to  drive 
General  Banks  before  him  ;  precisely  in  what  force  we  cannot 
tell.  He  is  also  threatening  Leesburg  and  Geary  on  the 
Manassas  Gap  railroad,  from  both  north  and  south  ;  in  precisely 
what  force  we  cannot  tell.  I  think  the  movement  is  a  general 
and  concerted  one.  Such  as  would  not  be  if  he  was  acting 
upon  the  purpose  of  a  very  desperate  defence  of  Richmond.  I 


368  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

think  the  time  is  near  when  you  must  either  attack  Richmond 
or  give  up  the  job,  and  come  to  the  defence  of  Washington 

Let  me  hear  from  you  instantly. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

On  the  20th  of  June,  he  notified  the  President  that 
Jackson  had  been  reinforced  by  probably  not  less  than 
ten  thousand  troops  sent  from  Bichmond ;  that  his  own 
defences  on  the  Chickahominy,  made  necessary  by  his 
"  inferiority  of  numbers,"  would  be  completed  the  next 
day ;  and  that  he  would  like  to  know  the  "  disposition, 
as  to  numbers  and  position,  of  the  troops  not  under  his 
command,  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere,"  requesting  per 
mission,  also,  to  lay  before  the  President,  "  by  letter  or 
telegraph,  his  views  as  to  the  present  state  of  military 
affairs  throughout  the  whole  country"  To  this  he  re 
ceived  the  following  reply : 

"WASHINGTON,  June  21st,  1862—6  P.  M. 

"Your  despatch  of  yesterday,  2  P.  M.,  was  received  this 
morning.  If  it  would  not  divert  too  much  of  your  time  and 
attention  from  the  army  under  your  immediate  command,  I 
would  be  glad  to  have  your  views  as  to  the  present  state  of 
military  affairs  throughout  the  whole  country,  as  you  say  you 
would  be  glad  to  give  them.  I  would  rather  it  should  be  by 
letter  than  by  telegraph,  because  of  the  better  chance  of  secrecy. 
As  to  the  numbers  and  positions  of  the  troops  not  under  your 
command,  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere,  even  if  I  could  do  it  with 
accuracy,  which  I  cannot,  I  would  rather  not  transmit  either  by 
telegraph  or  letter,  because  of  the  chances  of  its  reaching  the 
enemy.  I  would  be  very  glad  to  talk  with  you,  but  you  cannot 
leave  your  camp,  and  I  cannot  well  leave  here. 

"A.  LINCOLN,  President. 

"Major- General  GEORGE  B.  McCLELLAN." 

Circumstances  occurring  shortly  after  prevented  Gen. 


MILITARY  OPERATIONS  OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  369 

McClellan  from  favoring  the  President  and  the  country 
at  large,  as  he  had  proposed,  with  his  opinion  on  "  the 
situation ;"  theories  being  quite  "  pushed  to  the  wall " 
by  the  stern  realities  of  the  new  opening  of  the  "  Penin 
sula  Campaign."  For  now  nearly  a  month,  he  had  been 
constantly  reiterating  his  intention  to  make  an  immediate 
advance  upon  Richmond ;  and,  frequently,  days  were 
especially  fixed  for  the  movement — yet,  again  and  again, 
when  the  decisive  moment  arrived,  it  brought  only  a 
postponement.  His  army,  at  this  time,  occupied  both 
banks  of  the  Chickahominy — the  left  wing  being  strong 
and  well  compacted,  while  the  right  was  comparatively 
weak  and  attenuated.  The  stream,  however,  had  been  so 
thoroughly  bridged,  that  either  wing  could  easily  and 
speedily  have  been  transferred  across.  Hitherto  he  had 
believed  Jackson  to  be  in  force  at  Gordonsville,  but  on 
the  24th  of  June  he  learned  from  a  deserter,  that  an  at 
tack  on  his  right  and  rear  had  been  planned  for  the  28th, 
which  information  was  confirmed  on  the  25th  by  advice 
from  the  "War  Department.  In  view  of  this  expected  at 
tack  he  wrote  to  the  Department  a  letter,  which  seems 
to  be  an  attempt  of  his  timorous  nature  to  throw  upon 
others  the  responsibility  of  an  anticipated  defeat ;  declar 
ing  the  rebel  force  to  be  about  two  hundred  thousand, 
he  regretted  his  own  "  great  inferiority  in  numbers,"  pro 
testing  that  he  could  not  be  held  responsible  for  it,  as  he 
had  repeatedly  and  constantly  demanded  reinforcements, 
and  that,  if  the  result  of  the  action  was  a  disaster, 
the  "  responsibility  cannot  be  thrown  on  his  shoulders, 
but  must  rest  where  it  belongs."  He  closed  by  saying 
that  he  should  probably  be  attacked  on  the  following 
day,  and  that  he  felt  "  that  there  was  no  use  in  again 

24 


370  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

asking  for  reinforcements."     To  this  the  President  thus 

replied  : 

"  WASHINGTON,  June  26,  1865. 

"  Your  three  despatches  of  yesterday  in  relation,  ending  with 
the  statement  that  you  completely  succeeded  in  making  your 
point,  are  very  gratifying.  The  latter  one,  suggesting  the  pro 
bability  of  your  being  overwhelmed  by  two  hundred  thousand 
men,  and  talking  of  to  whom  the  responsibility  will  belong, 
pains  me  very  much.  I  give  you  all  I  can,  and  act  on  the  pre 
sumption  that  you  will  do  the  best  you  can  with  what  you  have  ; 
while  you  continue,  ungenerously  I  think,  to  assume  that  I 
could  give  you  more  if  I  would.  I  have  omitted — I  shall  omit 
— no  opportunity  to  send  you  reinforcements  whenever  I 

can. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

McClellan  seems  to  have  fully  anticipated  and  made 
his  arrangements  for  a  defeat,  having — according  to  his 
own  report — as  early  as  the  18th,  ordered  supplies  to 
the  James  river,  as  a  convenient  place  upon  which  to 
fall  back  in  case  of  disaster.  On  the  26th,  his  extreme 
right  was  attacked  at  Mechanics  ville,  and,  though  the 
enemy  were  repulsed,  their  purpose  of  crushing  that 
wing,  and  severing  his  communications,  •  was  fully  re 
vealed.  Instead,  however,  of  advancing  his  left  wing 
across  the  river  to  strengthen  the  right,  or  of  withdrawing 
his  right  across  the  strong  defensive  line  of  the  river — 
lie  left  the  unfortunate  right  wing  to  continue  the  strug 
gle  the  next  day,  without  support,  against  the  main  body 
of  the  rebel  army,  and  only  withdrew  it  across  the  Chick- 
ahominy  after  the  terrible  defeat  of  Games'  Mill.  On 
the  next  day  his  troops  commenced  a  retreat,  and  the 
general  again  showered  reproaches  upon  the  government 
for  neglect  of  his  army — alleging  that  ten  thousand  fresh 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  371 

men  would  enable  him  to  take  Richmond  (this  from  a 
retreating  general !)  but  that,  as  it  was,  he  could  hope  to 
cover  his  retreat.  Claiming,  as  before,  that  he  was  not 
to  be  held  "  responsible  for  the  result,"  he  imperatively 
demanded  very  large  reinforcements,  and  concluded  this 
characteristic  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  with  this 
remarkable  sentence — "  If  I  save  this  army  now,  I  tell 
you  plainly  that  /  owe  no  thanlcs  to  you  or  to  any  person 
in  Washington:  you  have  done  your  best  to  sacrifice  this 
army? 

The  unparalleled  impertinence  of  this  communication 
instead  of  causing  the  prompt,  and  well-merited  dismissal 
of  the  writer,  only  called  from  our  most  patient  and 
generous-hearted  President  the  following  reply  : 

"  WASHINGTON,  June  28,  1862. 

"  Save  your  army  at  all  events.  Will  send  reinforcements 
as  fast  as  we  can.  Of  course,  they  cannot  reach  you  to-day,  to 
morrow,  or  next  day.  I  have  not  said  you  were  ungenerous 
for  saying  you  needed  reinforcements  ;  I  thought  you  were  un 
generous,  in  assuming  that  I  did  not  send  them  as  fast  as  I  could. 
I  feel  any  misfortune  to  you  and  your  army  quite  as  keenly  as 
you  feel  it  yourself.  If  you  have  had  a  drawn  battle  or  a  repulse, 
it  is  the  price  we  pay  for  the  enemy  not  being  in  Washington. 
We  protected  Washington  and  the  enemy  concentrated  on  you. 
Had  we  stripped  Washington,  he  would  have  been  upon  us  be 
fore  the  troops  sent  could  have  got  to  you.  Less  than  a  week 
ago  you  notified  us  that  reinforcements  were  leaving  Eichmond 
to  come  in  front  of  us.  It  is  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  neither 
you  nor  the  Government  is  to  blame. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

Meanwhile  the  army  continued  its  retreat  towards  the 
James  river,  making  successive  stops  to  resist  pursuit, 


372  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

at  points  previously  designated  by  General  McClellan,  who 
with  his  staff  proceeded  in  advance,  but  took  no  personal 
part  in  any  of  the  terrible  battles  which  his  brave  men  we  re 
fighting  day  after  day.  At  Savage  Station,  on  the  29th? 
at  Glendale  on  the  30th,  and  at  Malvern  Hill  on  the 
1st  of  July,  they  stayed  their  retreating  footsteps,  faced 
the  enemy  like  lions,  routed  them  with  terrific  slaughter, 
and  then  pushed  on  with  bitter  thoughts  to  Harrison's 
Landing  on  the  river,  where  under  cover  of  the  Union 
gunboats,  they  found  at  last  a  welcome  respite  from  the 
roar  and  din  of  battle.  Before  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill, 
a  telegraphic  request  for  fresh  troops,  brought  from  Wash 
ington  the  following  brief  despatch  from  the  President : 

"WASHINGTON,  July  1,  1862—3.30  P.  M. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  reinforce  you  for  your  present  emergency. 
If  we  had  a  million  of  men  we  could  not  get  them  to  you  in 
time.  We  have  not  the  men  -  to  send.  If  you  are  not  strong 
enough  to  face  the  enemy,  you  must  find  a  place  of  security, 
and  wait,  rest,  and  repair.  Maintain  your  ground  if  you  can, 
but  save  the  army  at  all  events,  even  if  you  fall  back  to  Fortress 
Monroe.  We  still  have  strength  enough  in  the  country,  and 

will  bring  it  out.* 

"A.  LINCOLN. 
"Major-General  GK  B.  MCCLELLAN." 

Gen.  McClellan  estimated  the  entire  number  of  his 
killed,  wounded  and  missing  during  these  seven  days, 
at  fifteen  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-nine. 

*  On  the  28th  of  June,  the  Governors  of  seventeen  States  sent  an  ad 
dress  to  Mr,  Lincoln,  pledging  the  readiness  of  the  people  to  respond  to  a 
call  for  more  troops,  and  expressing  the  popular  desire  for  prompt  and 
vigorous  measures  to  suppress  the  rebellion.  In  response  to  this,  the 
President,  on  the  1st  of  July,  (the  same  day  on  which  he  wrote  to  Gen. 
McClellan,)  issued  a  call  for  three  hundred  thousand  volunteers. 


MILITARY  OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  373 

Again,  on  the  following  day,  in  reply  to  a  request  for 
fifty  thousand  more  troops,  the  President  thus  writes : 

"  WASHINGTON,  July  2,  1862. 

"  Your  despatch  of  yesterday  induces  me  to  hope  that  your 
army  is  having  some  rest.  In  this  hope,  allow  me  to  reason 
with  you  for  a  moment.  When  you  ask  for  fifty  thousand  men 
to  be  promptly  sent  you,  you  surely  labor  under  some  gross 
mistake  of  fact.  Eecently  you  sent  papers  showing  your  dis 
posal  of  forces  made  last  spring  for  the  defence  of  Washington, 
and  advising  a  return  to  that  plan.  I  find  it  included,  in  and 
about  Washington,  seventy-five  thousand  men.  Now,  please 
be  assured  that  I  have  not  men  enough  to  fill  that  very  plan  by 
fifteen  thousand.  All  of  General  Fremont's  in  the  valley,  all 
of  General  Banks',  all  of  General  McDowell's  not  with  you,  and 
all  in  Washington,  taken  together,  do  not  exceed,  if  they  reach, 
sixty  thousand.  With  General  Wool  and  General  Dix  added 
to  those  mentioned,  I  have  not,  outside  of  your  army,  seventy- 
five  thousand  men  east  of  the  mountains.  Thus,  the  idea 
of  sending  you  fifty  thousand,  or  any  other  considerable  forces 
promptly,  is  simply  absurd.  If,  in  your  frequent  mention 
of  responsibility,  you  have  the  impression  that  I  blame  you  for 
not  doing  more  than  you  can,  please  be  relieved  of  such  impres 
sion.  I  only  beg,  that  in  like  manner,  you  will  not  ask  impos 
sibilities  of  me.  If  you  think  you  are  not  strong  enough 
to  take  Richmond  just  now,  I  do  not  ask  you  to  try  just  now. 
Save  the  army,  material,  and  personnel,  and  I  will  strengthen  it 
for  the  offensive  again  as  fast  as  I  can.  The  Governors  of 
eighteen  States  offer  me  a  new  levy  of  three  hundred  thousand, 
which  I  accept.  A.  LINCOLN." 

On  the  next  day,  General  McClellan  again  wrote  for 
one  hundred  thousand  men — "more  rather  than  less/' 
to  enable  him  to  "  accomplish  the  great  task  of  captur 
ing  Richmond,  and  putting  an  end  to  the  rebellion;" 
expressing  his  hope  that  the  enemy  was  as  completely 


374  THE   LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

worn  out  as  his  own  army,  though  he  feared  an  attack, 
from  which,  however,  he  trusted  the  bad  condition  of 
the  roads  might  protect  him.  On  the  4th,  his  call  for 
"  heavy  reinforcements"  was  repeated,  although  he 
acknowledged  that  he  held  a  very  strong  position,  from 
which,  with  the  aid  of  the  gunboats,  he  could  scarcely 
be  driven.  On  the  same  day  he  received  the  following 
from  the  President : 

"WAR  DEPARTMENT,  } 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  July  4, 1862.  ) 
"  I  understand  your  position  as  stated  in  your  letter,  and  by 
General  Marcy.  To  reinforce  you  so  as  to  enable  you  to 
resume  the  offensive  within  a  month,  or  even  six  weeks,  is 
impossible.  In  addition  to  that  arrived  and  now  arriving  from 
the  Potomac  (about  ten  thousand  men,  I  suppose),  and  about 
ten  thousand,  I  hope,  you  will  have  from  Burnside  very  soon, 
and  about  five  thousand  from  Hunter  a  little  later,  I  do  not  see 
how  I  can  send  you  another  man  within  a  month.  Under 
these  circumstances,  the  defensive,  for  the  present,  must  be 
your  only  care.  Save  the  army,  first,  where  you  are,  if  you 
can;  and  secondly,  by  removal,  if  you  must.  You,  on  the 
ground,  must  be  the  judge  as  to  which  you  will  attempt,  and  of 
the  means  for  effecting  it.  I  but  give  it  as  my  opinion,  that 
with  the  aid  of  the  gunboats  and  the  reinforcements  mentioned 
above,  you  can  hold  your  present  position;  provided,  and 
so  long  as  you  can  keep  the  James  river  open  below  you.  If 
you  are  not  tolerably  confident  you  can  keep  the  James  river 
open,  you  had  better  remove  as  soon  as  possible.  I  do 
not  remember  that  you  have  expressed  any  apprehension  as  to 
the  danger  of  having  your  communication  cut  on  the  river 
below  you,  yet  I  do  not  suppose  it  can  have  escaped  your  atten 
tion.  A.  LINCOLN. 

"  P.  S. — If  at  any  time  you  feel  able  to  take  the  offensive, 
you  are  not  constrained  from  doing  so.  A.  L." 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  375 

At  this  juncture,  the  forces  previously  commanded  by 
Generals  Banks,  Fremont  and  McDowell,  were  consoli 
dated  into  the  army  of  Virginia,  the  command  of  which 
was  given  to  General  Pope,  whose  hitherto  successful 
career  in  the  west,  indicated  him  as  fitted  for  this 
important  position  in  the  east.  He  at  once  entered 
vigorously  upon  the  work  of  preparation  for  the  triple 
task  which  devolved  upon  him,  viz. :  the  defence  of 
Washington,  holding  the  Shenandoah  valley,  and  creat 
ing  a  diversion  in  favor  of  the  army  at  Harrison's  Land 
ing.  On  ascertaining  the  condition  of  the  forces  placed 
at  his  command,  he  was  painfully  conscious  of  the  great 
disproportion  of  the  means  at  his  disposal  to  the  ends 
that  were  to  be  accomplished,  for  his  new  command 
amounted  to  barely  thirty-eight  thousand  effective  men. 

Under  these  circumstances,  after  having  unsuccess 
fully  appealed  to  the  chief  authorities  at  Washington  to 
relieve  him  from  a  command  from  which  so  little  was  to 
be  hoped,  and  in  which  his  high  military  reputation  was 
staked  at  fearful  odds,  he  issued  an  energetic  address  to 
his  army,  and  proceeded  earnestly  to  the  performance 
of  the  three-fold  duties  already  indicated,  drawing 
almost  the  entire  army  of  Lee  away  from  Eichmond. 

On  the  7th  of  July,  General  McClellan  sent  to  the 
President  a  letter  of  advice  on  the  general  conduct  of 
his  administration,  in  which  he  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  time  had  come  "when  the  government  should 
determine  upon  a  civil  and  military  policy  covering  the 
whole  ground  of  our  national  trouble,"  and  he  proceeded 
to  lay  down  the  basis  of  such  a  policy  as  ought  to 
be  adopted.  "  The  war  against  the  rebellion,"  he  said, 
"  should  not  be  a  war  looking  to  the  subjugation  of  the 


376  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

people  of  any  State  in  any  event.  Neither  confiscation 
of  property,  political  execution  of  persons,  territorial 
organization  of  States,  nor  forcible  abolition  of  slavery, 
should  be  contemplated  for  a  moment."  He  added  : 

"  Military  power  should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  the 
relations  of  servitude,  either  by  supporting  or  impairing  the 
authority  of  the  master,  except  for  repressing  disorder,  as 
in  other  cases.  Slaves,  contraband,  under  the  act  of  Congress, 
seeking  military  protection,  should  receive  it.  The  right  of  the 
government  to  appropriate  permanently  to  its  own  service 
claims  to  slave  labor,  should  be  asserted,  and  the  right  of  the 
owner  to  compensation  therefor  should  be  recognized.  This 
principle  might  be  extended,  upon  grounds  of  military  necessity 
and  security,  to  all  the  slaves  of  a  particular  State,  thus  work 
ing  manumission  in  such  State ;  and  in  Missouri,  perhaps 
in  Western  Virginia  also,  and  possibly  even  in  Maryland,  the 
expediency  of  such  a  measure  is  only  a  question  of  time  *  * 

"  Unless  the  principles  governing  the  future  conduct  of  our 
struggle  shall  be  made  known  and  approved,  the  effort  to 
obtain  the  requisite  forces  will  be  almost  hopeless.  A  declara 
tion  of  radical  views,  especially  upon  slavery,  will  rapidly  dis 
integrate  our  present  armies." 

He  closed  his  letter  by  saying,  "I  may  be  on  the  brink 
of  eternity;  and  as  I  hope  for  forgiveness  from  my 
Maker,  I  have  written  this  letter  with  sincerity  towards 
you,  and  from  love  for  my  country." 

The  President,  instead  of  entering  upon  a  discussion 
as  to  the  general  policy  of  his  administration,  simply 
urged  the  general's  attention  to  'the  state  of  his  own 
army ;  'and  with  a  view  to  inform  himself  more  accu 
rately  as  to  its  actual  condition  and  prospects,  visited 
the  camp  on  the  8th  of  July,  at  Harrison's  Landing. 


MILITARY  OPERATIONS  OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  377 

On  returning  to  Washington,  the  President  thus  wrote 
the  general : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  July  13,  1862. 
"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — I  am  told  that  over  one  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  men  have  gone  with  your  army  on  the  Penin 
sula.  When  I  was  with  you  the  other  day,  we  made  out 
eighty-six  thousand  remaining,  leaving  seventy-three  thousand 
five  hundred  to  be  accounted  for.  I  believe  three  thousand 
five  hundred  will  cover  all  the  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  in 
all  your  battles  and  skirmishes,  leaving  fifty  thousand  who 
have  left  otherwise.  ISTot  more  than  five  thousand  of  these 
have  died,  leaving  forty-five  thousand  of  your  army  still  alive, 
and  not  with  it.  I  believe  half  or  two-thirds  of  them  are  fit 
for  duty  to-day.  Have  you  any  more  perfect  knowledge  of  this 
than  I  have  ?  If  I  am  right,  and  you  had  these  men  with  you, 
you  could  go  into  Eichmond  in  the  next  three  days.  How  can 
they  be  got  to  you,  and  how  can  they  be  prevented  from  get 
ting  away  in  such  numbers  in  the  future  ? 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

The  general's  reply  to  this  letter,  disclosed  the  re 
markable  fact  that  thirty-eight  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty  men  of  his  army  were  absent  on  furloughs 
granted  by  his  permission ;  and  that  the  actual  number 
of  troops  composing  his  army  on  the  20th  of  July,  ac 
cording  to  official  returns,  was  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
eight  thousand,  three  hundred  and  fourteen,  and  its  ag 
gregate  losses  in  the  retreat  to  the  James  river  fifteen 
thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-nine. 

The  future  plan  of  army  operations  had  been,  during 
the  President's  visit  to  the  camp,  a  subject  of  anxious 
deliberation  and  discussion.  Washington,  which  was 
comparatively  unprotected,  was  understood  to  be  the 
point  aimed  at  by  the  rebel  leaders,  and  as  McClellan 


378  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

did  not  consider  his  army  sufficiently  strong  for  an  offen 
sive  programme — the  corps  commanders  decided  strongly 
in  favor  of  using  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  for  the  de 
fence  of  the  capital.  McClellan,  however,  had  not 
given  up  the  idea  of  taking  Richmond.  On  the  llth, 
he  informed  the  President  that  his  "  army  was  in  fine 
spirits,  and  that  he  hoped  he  would  soon  make  him 
strong  enough  to  try  again ;"  again,  he  writes,  that  he 
was  "more  and  more  convinced  that  the  army  ought 
not  to  be  withdrawn,  but  promptly  reinforced  and  thrown 
again  on  Richmond,"  and  earnestly  deprecated  any 
further  retreat,  as  disasters  to  the  morale  of  his  troops, 
saying,  "if  we  have  a  little  more  than  half  a  chance  we 
can  take  Richmond."  These  messages  and  demands 
still  continuing,  day  after  day,  General  Halleck,  on  the 
25th,  visited  the  camp  in  person,  and  having  carefully 
inspected  the  troops,  convened  a  council  of  officers,  a 
majority  of  whom  concurred  in  the  opinion  that  the 
army  ought  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  Peninsula.  On 
the  30th,  therefore,  he  ordered  General  McClellan  to 
make  ready  for  the  prompt  removal  of  his  sick,  in  order 
to  enable  him  to  "move  in  any  direction."  Four  days 
were  lost  by  McClellan's  delay  to  comply  with  this,  and 
a  similar  order  following — because  he  did  not  know 
what  was  intended  to  be  done  with  his  army.  Finally, 
having  been  informed  that  his  army  was  to  be  with 
drawn  from  the  Peninsula  to  Aquia  Creek,  he,  instead 
of  obeying,  entered  a  long  protest  against  the  movement 
— affirming  his  present  position  to  be  the  "  true  defence 
of  Washington,"  and  urging  that  the  order  might  be 
countermanded. 

To  this  the  Secretary  of  War  replied  on  the  fourth, 


MILITARY  OPERATIONS  OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  379 

again  urging  the  dilatory  commander  to  hasten  the  re 
moval  of  the  sick,  which  he  was  significantly  reminded 
he  had  been  "  expected  to  have  done  without  waiting 
to  know  what  were  or  would  be  the  intentions  of  the 
government  respecting  future  movements;"  and  on  the 
sixth  he  was  again  addressed,  as  follows: 

"HEADQUARTERS    OF    THE    ARMY,     | 

WASHINGTON,  August  6th,  1862.  J 

"GENERAL: — Your  telegram  of  yesterday  was  received  this 
morning,  and  I  immediately  telegraphed  a  brief  reply,  promis 
ing  to  write  you  more  fully  by  mail. 

"  You,  General,  certainly  could  not  have  been  more  pained 
at  receiving  my  order  than  I  was  at  the  necessity  of  issuing  it. 
I  was  advised  by  high  officers,  in  whose  judgment  I  had  great 
confidence,  to  make  the  order  immediately  on  my  arrival  here, 
but  I  determined  not  to  do  so  until  I  could  learn  your  wishes 
from  a  personal  interview.  And  even  after  that  interview  I 
tried  every  means  in  my  power  to  avoid  withdrawing  your 
army,  and  delayed  my  decision  as  long  as  I  dared  to  delay  it. 

"  I  assure  you,  General,  it  was  not  a  hasty  and  inconsiderate 
act,  but  one  that  caused  me  more  anxious  thoughts  than  any 
other  of  my  life.  But  after  fall  and  mature  consideration  of 
all  the  pros  and  cons,  I  was  reluctantly  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  order  must  be  issued — there  was  to  my  mind  no 
alternative. 

"  Allow  me  to  allude  to  a  few  of  the  facts  in  the  case. 

"You  and  your  officers  at  our  interview  estimated  the 
enemy's  forces  in  and  around  Eichmond  at  two  hundred  thou 
sand  men.  Since  then,  you  and  others  report  that  they  have 
received  and  are  receiving  large  reinforcements  from  the  South. 
General  Pope's  army,  covering  Washington,  is  only  about  forty 
thousand.  Your  effective  force  is  only  about  ninety  thousand. 
You  are  thirty  miles  from  Richmond,  and  General  Pope  eighty 
or  ninety,  with  the  enemy  directly  between  you,  ready  to  fall  with 


380  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN". 

his  superior  numbers  upon  one  or  the  other  as  he  may  elect ;  neither 
can  reinforce  the  other  in  case  of  such  an  attack. 

"  If  General  Pope's  army  be  diminished  to  reinforce  you, 
Washington,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania,  would  be  left  un 
covered  and  exposed.  If  your  force  be  reduced  to  strengthen 
Pope,  you  would  be  too  weak  to  even  hold  the  position  you 
now  occupy  should  the  enemy  turn  round  and  attack  you  in 
full  force.  In  other  words,  the  old  Army  of  the  Potomac  is 
split  into  two  parts,  with  the  entire  force  of  the  enemy  directly 
between  them.  They  cannot  be  united  by  land  without  ex 
posing  both  to  destruction,  and  yet  they  must  be  united.  To 
send  Pope's  forces  by  water  to  the  Peninsula,  is  under  present 
circumstances  a  military  impossibility.  The  only  alternative 
is  to  send  the  forces  on  the  Peninsula  to  some  point  by  water, 
say  Fredericksburg,  where  the  two  armies  can  be  united. 

"  Let  me  now  allude  to  some  of  the  objections  which  you 
have  urged:  you  say  that  the  withdrawal  from  the  present 
position  will  cause  the  certain  demoralization  of  the  army, 
'  which  is  now  in  excellent  discipline  and  condition.' 

"  I  cannot  understand  why  a  simple  change  of  position  to  a 
new  and  Toy  no  means  distant  base  will  demoralize  an  army  in 
excellent  discipline,  unless  the  officers  themselves  assist  in  that 
demoralization,  which  I  am  satisfied  they  will  not. 

"  Your  change  of  front,  from  your  extreme  right  at  Hanover 
Court  House  to  your  present  position,  was  over  thirty  miles, 
but  I  have  not  heard  that  it  demoralized  your  troops,  notwith 
standing  the  severe  losses  they  sustained  in  effecting  it. 

"A  new  base  on  the  Rappahannock  at  Fredericksburg  brings 
you  within  about  sixty  miles  of  Eichmond,  and  secures  a  rein 
forcement  of  forty  or  fifty  thousand  fresh  and  disciplined 
troops. 

"  The  change  with  such  advantages  will,  I  think,  if  properly 
represented  to  your  army,  encourage  rather  than  demoralize 
your  troops.  Moreover,  you  yourself  suggested  that  a  junction 
might  be  effected  at  Yorktown,  but  that  a  flank  march  across 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF    THE   YEAR   1862.  381 

the  isthmus  would  be  more  hazardous  than  to  retire  to  Fort 
Monroe. 

"You  will  remember  that  Yorktown  is  two  or  three  miles 
further  than  Fredericksburg  is.  Besides,  the  latter  is  between 
Kichmond  and  Washington,  and  covers  Washington  from  any 
attack  of  the  enemy. 

"The  political  effect  of  the  withdrawal  may  at  first  be  un 
favorable  ;  but  I  think  the  public  are  beginning  to  understand 
its  necessity,  and  that  they  will  have  much  more  confidence  in 
a  united  army  than  in  its  separated  fragments. 

"But  you  will  reply,  why  not  reinforce  me  here,  so  that  I 
can  strike  Richmond  from  my  present  position  ?  To  do  this, 
you  said,  at  our  interview,  that  you  required  thirty  thousand 
additional  troops.  I  told  you  that  it  was  impossible  to  give 
you  so  many.  You  finally  thought  you  would  have  'some 
chance'  of  success  with  twenty  thousand.  But  you  afterwards 
telegraphed  me  that  you  would  require  thirty-five  thousand,  as 
the  enemy  was  being  largely  reinforced. 

"  If  your  estimate  of  the  enemy's  strength  was  correct,  your 
requisition  was  perfectly  reasonable ;  but  it  was  utterly  im 
possible  to  fill  it  until  new  troops  could  be  enlisted  and  organ 
ized,  which  would  require  several  weeks. 

"  To  keep  your  army  in  its  present  position  until  it  could  be 
so  reinforced  would  almost  destroy  it  in  that  climate. 

"  The  months  of  August  and  September  are  almost  fatal  to 
whites  who  live  on  that  part  of  the  James  River ;  and  even 
after  you  received  the  reinforcement  asked  for,  you  admitted 
that  you  must  reduce  Fort  Darling  and  the  river  batteries 
before  you  could  advance  on  Richmond. 

"  It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  reduction  of  these  forti 
fications  would  not  require  considerable  time — perhaps  as  much 
as  those  at  Yorktown. 

"  This  delay  might  not  only  be  fatal  to  the  health  of  your 
army,  but  in  the  mean  time  General  Pope's  forces  would  be 


382  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

exposed  to  the  heavy  blows  of  the  enemy  without  the  slightest 
hope  of  assistance  from  you. 

"  In  regard  to  the  demoralizing  effect  of  a  withdrawal  from 
the  Peninsula  to  the  Rappahannock,  I  must  remark  that  a 
large  number  of  your  highest  officers,  indeed  a  majority  of 
those  whose  opinions  have  been  reported  to  me,  are  decidedly 
in  favor  of  the  movement.  Even  several  of  those  who  originally 
advocated  the  line  of  the  Peninsula  now  advise  its  abandon 
ment. 

"  I  have  not  inquired,  and  do  not  wish  to  know,  by  whose 
advice  or  for  what  reasons  the  army  of  the  Potomac  was 
separated  into  two  parts,  with  the  enemy  between  them.  I 
must  take  things  as  I  find  them. 

"  I  find  the  forces  divided,  and  I  wish  to  unite  them.  Only 
one  feasible  plan  has  been  presented  for  doing  this.  If  you,  or 
any  one  else,  had  presented  a  better  plan,  I  certainly  should 
have  adopted  it.  But  all  of  your  plans  require  reinforcements 
which  it  is  impossible  to  give  you.  It  is  very  easy  to  ask  for 
reinforcements,  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  give  them  when  you 
have  no  disposable  troops  at  your  command. 

"  I  have  written  very  plainly  as  I  understand  the  case,  and  I 
hope  you  will  give  me  credit  for  having  fully  considered  the 
matter,  although  I  may  have  arrived  at  very  different  conclu 
sions  from  your  own. 

"  Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  W.  H.  HALLECK,  G-eneral-in-  Chief. 
"  Major- General  Gr.  B.  McCLELLAN,  Commanding,  etc., 

Berkeky,  Virginia." 

And  this,  then,  was  the  practical  result  of  the  Penin 
sula  campaign ;  three  months  of  "  masterly  inactivity/' 
in  the  field,  added  to  the  eight  months  of  preparation 
before  Washington.  And  this  was  not  because  he 
lacked  the  proper  support  from  government;  for, 
although  his  plan  of  an  attack  on  Kichmond  by  the 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR  1862.  383 

lower  Chesapeake  was  entirely  at  variance  with  the 
better  judgment  of  the  President  and  others,  yet 
McClellan  was  furnished  with  all  needed  means,  and 
every  available  man,  consistently  with  his  own  opinions 
as  to  the  necessary  security  of  Washington,  and  with 
the  conditions  expressly  exacted  by  himself  in  under 
taking  the  work.  Nor  was  it  owing  to  any  unfortunate 
combination  of  events,  or  to  any  lack  of  courage  or 
nerve  on  the  part  of  his  soldiers,  for  these  were  the 
men  who,  even  amid  the  discouragements  of  a  retreat, 
wrested  the  victories  of  Fair  Oaks,  Savage  Station,  and 
Malvern  Hill  from  a  flushed  and  pursuing  enemy ;  and 
who,  at  a  later  day,  under  another  leader,  captured 
Richmond,  and  ended  the  rebellion.  The  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  most  sorely  tried  of  all  our  armies,  needed 
then  only  proper  handling  by  its  commander  to  have 
insured  it  the  success  and  the  glory  which  has  since 
crowned  its  patriotism,  its  patience,  its  heroism. 

"  The  military  record  of  the  campaign,"  says  another  writer, 
"  has  a  singular  sameness.  When  occasionally  his  roads  are 
good,  he  cannot  move  without  reinforcements.  When  his  rein 
forcements  come,  he  has  to  wait  for  better  roads.  Thus  time 
passes — the  month  of  April,  before  an  army  originally  one- 
eighth  as  large  as  his  own ;  much  of  May  and  June  by  the 
sickly  Chickahominy,  his  men  not  unfit  for  duty  engaged  in 
throwing  up  intrenchments,  to  be  abandoned  on  the  first 
attack.  Day  after  day  he  is  only  waiting  for  something  just 
on  the  point  of  being  gained,  when  his  final  advance  and  assaul 
are  to  commence.  But  perfect  readiness  never  comes;  and  at 
last,  the  enemy,  concentrating  all  his  strength,  himself  attacks, 
and  puts  upon  its  defence,  an  army  that  was  confidently  led 
forth  for  aggressive  war. 

"  A  month  wasted  at  Yorktown,  without  plausible  palliation ; 


384  THE   LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

tardy  pursuit,  after  the  unintended  battle,  resulting  in  victory, 
at  Williamsburg ;  unaccountable  hesitation  and  slackness  on 
the  Chickahominy ;  utter  neglect  to  use  the  known  absence  of 
Jackson,  or  to  anticipate  the  arrival  of  Beauregard  after  the 
evacuation  of  Corinth;  insured  an  otherwise  impossible  dis 
comfiture.  Never  did  the  result  of  a  campaign  more  bitterly 
disappoint  public  hope.  The  worst  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  fore 
seen  from  the  adoption  of  the  Peninsular  plan  had  happened, 
and  even  a  loss  of  the  entire  army  was  now  dreaded.  Every 
advantage  supposed  by  General  McClellan  to  be  attainable 
by  this  route  to  Eichrnond  had  been  thrown  away.  The 
cause  had  suffered  a  vastly  greater  blow  than  at  Bull  Kun. 
The  nation  was  more  depressed ;  the  Administration  more 
painfully  embarrassed,  than  by  any  previous  calamity.  The 
worst  effects  upon  the  cause,  abroad  and  at  home,  were  to  be 
apprehended  from  this  unfortunate  issue  of  a  grand  military 
plan." 

The  order  for  the  removal  of  the  sick  had  been  given 
to  General  McClellan  on  the  2d  of  August ;  on  the  7th 
he  reported  that  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
forty  had  been  sent,  and  five  thousand  seven  hundred 
still  remained.  On  the  9th,  General  Halleck  telegraphed 
McClellan  that  the  enemy  was  massing  his  forces  in 
front  of  General  Pope  and  Burnside  to  crush  them  and 
move  upon  Washington,  and  that  reinforcements  must 
at  once  be  sent  to  Aquia  Creek :  "  Considering  the 
amount  of  transportation  at  your  disposal,  your  delay 
is  not  satisfactory.  You  must  move  with  all  celerity." 
To  this  he  replied  that  he  would  move  "  as  soon  as  the 
sick  were  disposed  of." 

Again,  on  the  10th,  General  Halleck  informed  him 
that  "  the  enemy  is  crossing  the  Eapidan  in  large  force. 
They  are  fighting  General  Pope  to-day.  There  must  be 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF    THE   YEAR   1862.  385 

no  further  delay  in  your  movements:  that  which  has 
already  occurred  was  entirely  unexpected,  and  must  be 
satisfactorily  explained.  Let  not  a  moment's  time  be 
lost,  and  telegraph  me  daily  what  progress  you  have 
made  in  executing  the  order  to  transfer  your  troops." 

On  the  21st,  he  was  told  "  the  forces  of  Burnside  and 
Pope  are  hard  pushed,  and  require  aid  as  rapidly  as 
you  can.  By  all  means  see  that  the  troops  sent  have 
plenty  of  ammunition.  We  have  no  time  to  supply 
them;  moreover,  they  may  have  to  fight  as  soon  as 
they  land." 

On  the  27th  of  August,  General  McClellan  was  order 
ed  by  General  Halleck  to  "  to  take  entire  direction  of  the 
sending  out  of  the  troops  from  Alexandria  "  to  reinforce 
Pope,  whom  the  enemy  were  pressing  with  a  powerful 
army,  and  whose  headquarters  were  now  at  Warrenton 
Junction.  A  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which, 
fortunately,  had  arrived  before  General  McClellan,  went 
forward  at  once  to  Pope's  aid,  but,  of  those  which  arrived 
after  him,  or  which  were  in  Alexandria  at  the  time,  not 
one  reached  the  field  or  took  any  part  in  the  battle  by 
which  the  army  was  saved  from  destruction  and  the 
capital  from  capture. 

For  the  next  two  days  the  general's  time  seems  to 
have  been  pretty  well  occupied  in  sending  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  telegraphic  despatches,  in  which  it  is 
certainly  not  easy  to  discover  any  very  earnest  desire  to 
reinforce  his  own  much-praised  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
then  fighting  a  battle  in  his  front  and  within  his  hearing, 
but  under  another  commander;  no  evidence  beyond 
his  own  declaration,  that  from  the  moment  of  his  ar 
rival  at  Alexandria  he  "  left  nothing  in  his  power  undone 
25 


386  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

to  forward  supplies  and  reinforcements  to  General  Pope." 
On  the  contrary,  they  seem  to  show.that  he  had  decided 
to  do,  what  in  a  telegram  of  the  same  date  he  had  sug 
gested  to  the  President,  "  leave  Pope  to  get  out  of  his 
scrape"  and  devote  himself  exclusively  to  the  safety  of 
Washington.*     He   seems  to  think  any  disposition  of 
Franklin's  and  Simmer's  troops  wise,   except  sending 
them  forward  to  reinforce  Pope.     He  was   anxious  to 
send  them  anywhere  and  everywhere  except  where  they 
were  wanted  most,  and  where  alone  they  could  assist  in 
getting  Pope   "out  of  his   scrape,"  and  in  aiding  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.     That  army,  finally,  after  having 
contested  every  inch  of  ground  with  a  gallantry  and 
tenacity  which  would  have  insured  it  glorious  success, 
if  it  had  been  properly  supported — was  defeated,  and 
driven  back  upon  Washington.     Unbroken  in  spirit  and 
organization,   it  fell  back  upon   the   capital  fully  pre 
pared  to  renew  the  struggle  for  its  safety. 

The  progress  of  the  rebel  army  up  the  Potomac,  with 
the  evident  purpose  of  attacking  Baltimore,  or  invading 

*  On  the  29th  he  had  telegraphed  to  the  President  as  follows  : 
"  I  am  clear  that  one  of  two  courses  should  be  adopted  :  First, to  con 
centrate  all  our  available  forces  to  open  communications  with  Pope  ; 
second,  to  leave  Pope  to  get  out  of  his  scrape,  and  at  once  use  all  our  means 
to  make  the  capital  perfectly  safe.     No  middle  ground  will  now  answer. 
Tell  me  what  you  wish  me  to  do,  and  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  accom 
plish  it." 
To  this  the  President  had  thus  replied : 

"WASHINGTON,  August  29,  1862—4.10  P.  M. 

"Yours  of  to-day  just  received.  I  think  your  first  alternative,  to  wit, 
'  to  concentrate  all  our  available  forces  to  open  communication  with  Pope,' 
is  the  right  one,  but  I  wish  not  to  control.  That  I  now  leave  to  General 

Halleck,  aided  by  your  counsels. 

"  A.  LINCOLN 
"  Major-General  MCC/LELLAN." 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  387 

Pennsylvania,  had  created  a  general  feeling  of  uneasiness 
throughout  the  country,  and  at  Washington  especially. 
This  state  of  the  public  mind  was  adroitly  used  by  the 
political  party  of  which  McClellan  had  recently  become 
the  recognized  head,  as  well  as  by  strong  military  clique 
in  the  army,  to  operate  unfavorably  against  General  Pope 
— in  consequence  of  which  that  officer  was  relieved,  and 
General  McClellan  again  took  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  On  the  4th  he  commenced  to  move  his 
army  into  Maryland  to  repel  the  rebel  invasion  ;  on  the 
llth  he  again  writes  for  more  reinforcements — even  if 
sending  them  should  involve  the  withdrawal  of  troops 
from  Harper's  Ferry,  or  from  the  front  of  Washington. 
This,  however,  was  refused.  On  the  14th  occurred  the 
battle  of  South  Mountain,  the  rebels  falling  back  to  the 
Potomac  ;  on  the  17th  the  battle  of  Antietam  was  fought 
— the  completion  of  the  victory  of  the  Union  arms  being 
sadly  marred  by  McClellan's  neglect  to  push  a  vigorous 
pursuit  of  the  shattered  and  demoralized  foe — although 
he  had  at  least  one  entirely  fresh  corps  to  use.  On  the 
19th,  when  orders  were  issued  for  a  renewal  of  the 
conflict,  it  was  suddenly  discovered  that  the  enemy  were 
safely  on  the  other  side  of  the  Potomac,  and  the  "  con 
dition  of  his  army "  was  his  excuse  for  not  crossing  in 
pursuit. 

On  the  23d,  and  again  on  the  27th,  he  wrote  to  Wash 
ington  for  reinforcements  to  enable  him  to  maintain  his 
position  where  he  then  was,  and  to  attack  tJie  enemy 
sJiould  he  attempt  to  recross  into  Maryland  I 

On  the  1st  of  October,  President  Lincoln  visited  the 
army  and  made  careful  inquiry  into  its  strength  and 
condition.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  visit  was 


388  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

made,  in  part,  from  the  extreme  anxiety  felt  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  on  account  of  the  protracted  delay  in  moving  the 
army,  and  from  a  desire  to  ascertain,  by  personal  obser 
vation,  how  far  this  inaction  was  necessary  or  reasonable. 
On  the  President's  return,  the  following  despatch  was 
sent  by  General  Halleck  to  General  McClellan : 

"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  6,  1862. 

"I  am  instructed  to  telegraph  to  you  as  follows  :  The  Presi 
dent  directs  that  you  cross  the  Potomac  and  give  battle  to  the 
enemy,  or  drive  him  south.  Your  army  must  move  now,  while 
the  roads  are  good.  If  you  cross -the  river  between  the  enemy 
and  Washington,  and  cover  the  latter  by  your  operation,  you 
can  be  reinforced  with  thirty  thousand  men.  If  you  move  up 
the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand  can  be  sent  you.  The  President  advises  the  interior 
line  between  Washington  and  the  enemy,  but  does  not  order 
it.  He  is  very  desirous  for  your  army  to  move  as  soon  as  pos 
sible.  You  will  immediately  report  what  line  you  adopt,  and 
when  you  intend  to  cross  the  river :  also  to  what  point  the  re 
inforcements  are  to  be  sent.  It  is  necessary  that  the  plan  of 
your  operations  be  positively  determined  on,  before  orders  are 
given  for  building  bridges  and  repairing  railroads.  I  am  di 
rected  to  add,  that  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  General-in- 
Chief  fully  concur  with  the  President  in  these  instructions. 

"  H.  W,  HALLECK,  General-in-  Chief. 

"  Major-General  McCLELLAN." 

General  McClellan  now  called  for  very  large  quantities 
of  shoes,  clothing,  and  other  supplies,  without  which,  he 
said,  the  army  could  not  move.  On  the  llth,  the  rebel 
General  Stuart,  with  a  force  of  some  twenty-five  hundred 
men,  made  a  raid  into  Pennsylvania,  circling  completely 
round  our  army,  and  thwarting  all  the  arrangements  by 
which  General  McClellan  had  reported  that  his  capture 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF    THE   YEAR   1862.  389 

was  certain.  On  the  13th,  the  President,  whose  patience 
was  well-nigh  exhausted  by  these  protracted  delays, 
addressed  General  McClellan  the  following  letter  : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Oct.  13^,  1862. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — You  remember  my  speaking  to  you  of 
what  I  called  your  over-cautiousness.  Are  you  not  over 
cautious  when  you  assume  that  you  cannot  do  what  the  enemy 
is  constantly  doing  ?  Should  you  not  claim  to  be  at  least  his 
equal  in  prowess,  and  act  upon  the  claim  ? 

"As  I  understand,  you  telegraphed  General  Halleck  that  you 
cannot  subsist  your  army  at  Winchester  unless  the  railroad 
from  Harper's  Ferry  to  that  point  be  put  in  working  order. 
But  the  enemy  does  now  subsist  his  army  at  Winchester,  at  a 
distance  nearly  twice  as  great  from  railroad  transportation  as 
you  would  have  to  do  without  the  railroad  last  named.  He  now 
wagons  from  Culpepper  Court  House,  which  is  just  about  twice 
as  far  as  you  would  have  to  do  from  Harper's  Ferry.  He  is 
certainly  not  more  than  half  as  well  provided  with  wagons  as 
you  are.  I  certainly  should  be  pleased  for  you  to  have  the 
advantage  of  the  railroad  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  Winchester ; 
but  it  wastes  all  the  remainder  of  autumn  to  give  it  to  you,  and, 
in  fact,  ignores  the  question  of  time,  which  cannot  and  must 
not  be  ignored. 

'Again,  one  of  the  standard  maxims  of  war,  as  you  know, 
is,  *  to  operate  upon  the  enemy's  communications  as  much  as 
possible  without  exposing  your  own.'  You  seem  to  act  as 
if  this  applies  against  you,  but  cannot  apply  in  your  favor. 
Change  positions  with  the  enemy,  and  think  you  not  he  would 
break  your  communication  with  Kichmond  within  the  next 
twenty-four  hours  ?  You  dread  his  going  into  Pennsylvania. 
But  if  he  does  so  in  full  force,  he  gives  up  his  communications 
to  you  absolutely,  and  you  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  folio  wand 
ruin  him.  If  he  does  so  with  less  than  full  force,  fall  upon  and 
beat  what  is  left  behind  all  the  easier. 

"  Exclusive  of  the  water  line,  you  are  now  nearer  Kichmond 


390  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

than  the  enemy  is  by  the  route  that  you  can  and  he  must  take. 
Why  can  you  not  reach  there  before  him,  unless  you  admit 
that  he  is  more  than  your  equal  on  a  march  ?  His  route  is  the 
arc  of  a  circle,  while  yours  is  the  chord.  The  roads  are  as 
good  on  yours  as  on  his. 

"You  know  I  desired,  but  did  not  order  you  to  cross  the 
Potomac  below,  instead  of  above  the  Shenandoah  and  Blue 
Ridge.  My  idea  was,  that  this  would  at  once  menace  the 
enemy's  communications,  which  T  would  seize  if  he  would 
permit.  If  he  should  move  northward,  I  would  follow  him 
closely,  holding  his  communications.  If  he  should  prevent  our 
seizing  his  communications,  and  moves  toward  Eichmond,  I 
would  press  closely  to  him,  fight  him  if  a  favorable  opportunity 
should  present,  and  at  least  try  to  beat  him  to  Richmond  on 
the  inside  track.  I  say  '  try  ;'  if  we  never  try  we  shall  never 
succeed.  If  he  make  a  stand  at  Winchester,  moving  neither 
north  nor  south,  I  would  fight  him  there,  on  the  idea  that  if 
we  cannot  beat  him  wrhen  he  bears  the  wastage  of  coming  to 
us,  we  never  can  when  we  bear  the  wastage  of  going  to  him. 
This  proposition  is  a  simple  truth,  and  is  too  important  to  be 
lost  sight  of  for  a  moment.  In  coming  to  us,  he  tenders  us  an 
advantage  which  we  should  not  waive.  We  should  not  so 
operate  as  to  merely  drive  him  away.  As  we  must  beat  him 
somewhere,  or  fail  finally,  we  can  do  it,  if  at  all,  easier  near  to 
us  than  far  away.  If  we  cannot  beat  the  enemy  where  he  now 
is,  we  never  can,  he  again  being  within  the  intrenchments  of 
Richmond.  Recurring  to  the  idea  of  going  to  Richmond  on 
the  inside  track,  the  facility  of  supplying  from  the  side  away 
from  the  enemy  is  remarkable — as  it  were  by  the  different 
spokes  of  a  wheel,  extending  from  the  hub  toward  the  rim,  and 
this  whether  you  move  directly  by  the  chord,  or  on  the  inside 
arc  hugging  the  Blue  Ridge  more  closely.  The  chord-line,  as 
you  see,  carries  you  by  Aldie,  Haymarket,  and  Fredericksburg, 
and  you  see  how  turnpikes,  railroads,  and,  finally,  the  Potomac 
by  Aquia  Creek,  meet  you  at  all  points  from  Washington. 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR  1862.  391 

The  same,  only  the  lines  lengthened  a  little,  if  you  press  closer 
to  the  Blue  Ridge  part  of  the  way.  The  gaps  through  the 
Blue  Ridge  I  understand  to  be  about  the  following  distances 
from  Harper's  Ferry,  to  wit — Vestal's,  five  miles ;  Oregon's, 
thirteen  ;  Snicker's,  eighteen ;.  Ashby's,  twenty-eight ;  Manassas, 
thirty-eight ;  Chester,  forty-five ;  and  Thornton's,  fifty-three. 
I  should  think  it  preferable  to  take  the  route  nearest  the  enemy 
disabling  him  to  make  an  important  move  without  your  knowl 
edge,  and  compelling  him  to  keep  his  forces  together  for  dread 
of  you.  The  gaps  would  enable  you  to  attack  if  you  should 
wish.  For  a  great  part  of  the  way  you  would  be  practically 
between  the  enemy  and  both  Washington  and  Richmond, 
enabling  us  to  spare  you  the  greatest  number  of  troops  from 
here.  When,  at  length,  running  to  Richmond  ahead  of  him 
enables  him  to  move  this  way,  if  he  does  so,  turn  and  attack 
him  in  the  rear.  But  I  think  he  should  be  engaged  long  before 
such  point  is  reached.  It  is  all  easy  if  our  troops  march  as 
well  as  the  enemy,  and  it  is  unmanly  to  say  they  cannot  do  it. 
This  letter  is  in  110  sense  an  order. 

"  Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

"  Major-General  McCLELLAN." 

For  another  fortnight  General  McClellan  delayed  to 
move  his  army  in  obedience  to  the  President's  order, 
and  sent  forward  only  complaints  of  inadequate  sup 
plies,  and  incessant  demands  for  reinforcements.  On 
the  twenty-first,  inquiring  whether  it  was  still  the  Presi 
dent's  wish  that  he  should  march  upon  the  enemy  at 
once  or  await  the  arrival  of  fresh  horses,  he  was  told 
that  the  order  of  the  sixth  was  unchanged,  and  that  the 
President, while  not  expecting  impossibilities,  was  "very 
anxious  that  all  this  good  weather  should  not  be  wasted 
in  inactivity."  General  McClellan  then  fixed  upon  the 
first  of  November  as  the  earliest  date  for  the  forward 


392  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

movement.  On  the  twenty-fifth  he  complained  to  the 
Department  of  the  condition  of  his  cavalry,  saying  that 
the  horses  were  fatigued  and  greatly  troubled  with  sore 
tongue;  which  provoked  from  the  President  the  follow 
ing  inquiry : 

"WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  Oct.  25th,  1862 
"I  have  just  read  your  despatch  about  sore-tongue' and  fa 
tigued  horses.    Will  you  pardon  me  for  asking  what  the  horses 
of  your  army  have  done   since   the  battle  of  Antietam  that 
fatigues  any  thing  ? 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

The  general  replied,  that  they  had  been  engaged  in 
making  reconnoissances,  scouting,  and  picketing.  To 
which  the  President  thus  rejoined  : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Oct.  26th,  1862. 
"  Yours  in  reply  to  mine  about  horses  received.  Of  course 
you  know  the  facts  better  than  I.  Still,  two  considerations 
remain :  Stuart's  cavalry  outmarched  ours,  having  certainly 
done  more  marked  service  on  the  Peninsula  and  everywhere 
since.  Secondly  :  will  not  a  movement  of  our  army  be  a  relief 
to  the  cavalry,  compelling  the  enemy  to  concentrate  instead  of 
'foraging'  in  squads  everywhere?  But  I  am  so  rejoioed  to 
learn  from  your  despatch  to  General  Halleck,  that  you  began 

crossing  the  river  this  morning. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

The  general  replied  in  a  long  despatch,  rehearsing  in 
detail  the  labors  performed  by  his  cavalry,  to  which  he 
thought  the  President  had  done  injustice.  This  note 
elicited  the  following  reply  : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Oct.  26th,  1862. 
"  Yours  of  yesterday  received.     Most  certainly  I  intend  no 
injustice  to  any,  and  if  I  have  done  any  I  deeply  regret  it.    To 
be  told,  after  more  than  five  weeks  total  inaction  of  the  army 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   YEAR   1862.  393 

and  during  which  period  we  had  sent  to  that  army  every  fresh 
horse  we  possibly  could,  amounting  in  the  whole  to  seven  thou 
sand  nine  hundred  and  eighteen,  that  the  cavalry  horses  were 
too  fatigued  to  move,  presented  a  very  cheerless,  almost  hope 
less  prospect  for  the  future,  and  it  may  have  forced  something 
of  impatience  into  my  despatches.  If  not  recruited  and  rested 
then,  when  could  they  ever  be  ?  I  suppose  the  river  is  rising, 
and  I  am  glad  to  believe  you  are  crossing. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

The  next  topic  of  discussion  which  the  general  took 
up,  was  the  extent  to  which  the  line  of  the  Potomac 
should  be  guarded,  after  he  left  it,  so  as  to  cover  Mary 
land  and  Pennsylvania  from  further  invasions  ;  and  his 
rather  irrelevant  suggestions  concerning  the  position  of 
the  rebel  army  under  Bragg,  led  General  Halleck,  in 
reply,  to  remind  him  that  Bragg  was  four  hundred  miles 
away,  while  Lee  was  but  twenty  !  On  the  twenty-seventh 
he  telegraphed  to  the  President  that  it  would  be  neces 
sary  to  "  fill  up  the  old  regiments  of  his  command  before 
taking  them  again  into  action,"  to  which  the  President 
replied : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Oct.  21th,  1862. 
"  Your -despatch  of  three  P.  M.  to-day,  in  regard  to  filling  up 
old  regiments  with  drafted  men,  is  received,  and  the  request 
therein  shall  be  complied  with  as  far  as  practicable.  And  row 
I  ask  a  distinct  answer  to  the  question,  'Is  it  your  purpose  not 
to  go  into  action  again  till  the  men  now  being  drafted  in  the 
States  are  incorporated  in  the  old  regiments  ?' 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

The  general  replied  to  this  that  the  language  of  the 
despatch — which  had  been  prepared  by  one  of  his  aids 
— had  incorrectly  expressed  his  meaning,  and  that  lie 
did  not  propose  to  delay  his  advance  until  his  regiments 


394  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

were  replenished  by  drafted  men.  Finally,  on  the  5th 
of  November,  just  a  month  after  the  order  had  been  is 
sued,  the  general  announced  to  the  President  that  the 
army  was  all  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  river — the 
enemy,  meanwhile,  having  possessed  himself  of  all  the 
strong  points,  and  fallen  back,  at  perfect  leisure,  towards 
his  base  of  operations.  This  disgraceful  and  inexcusa 
ble  delay  fairly  exhausted  the  patience  of  an  over- 
patient  government,  and  the  date  of  McClellan's  an 
nouncement  of  the  accomplishment  of  his  great  feat, 
was  also  the  date  of  an  order  relieving  him  from  the 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  directing 
General  Burnside  to  take  his  place.* 

The  record  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  while  under 
the  command  of  General  McClellan,  forms  a  most  remark 
able  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  war.  An  army  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  men.  brave,  enthusiastic  and 

*  In  a  subsequent  private  conversation  with  Mr.  Albert  D.  Richardson, 
the  President  thus  alluded  to  General  McClellan  : 

"  I  do  not,  as  some  do,  regard  McClellan  either  as  a  traitor  or  an  officer 
without  capacity.  He  sometimes  has  bad  counsellors,  but  he  is  loyal,  and 
he  has  some  fine  military  qualities.  I  adhered  to  him  after  nearly  all 
my  constitutional  advisers  lost  faith  in  him.  But  do  you  want  to  know 
when  I  gave  him  up  ?  It  was  after  the  battle  of  Antietam.  The  Blue 
Ridge  was  then  between  our  army  and  Lee's.  We  enjoyed  the  great  ad 
vantage  over  them,  which  they  usually  had  over  us  :  we  had  the  short 
line,  and  they  had  the  long  one,  to  the  rebel  capital.  I  directed  McClellan 
peremptorily  to  move  on  Richmond,  at  once.  It  was  eleven  days  before 
he  crossed  his  first  man  over  the  Potomac  ;  it  was  eleven  days  after  that 
before  he  crossed  the  last  man.  Thus,  he  was  twenty-two  days  in  passing 
the  river  at  a  much  easier  and  more  practicable  ford  than  that  where  Lee 
crossed  his  entire  army  be/ween  dark  one  night  and  daylight  the  next 
morning.  That  was  the  last  grain  of  sand  which  broke  the  camel's  back. 
I  relieved  McClellan  at  once.  As  for  Hooker  :  I  have  told  him  forty  times 
that  I  fear  he  may  err  just  as  much  one  way  as  McClellan  does  the  other 
— may  be  as  over-daring  as  McClellan  is  over-cautious." 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF    THE    YEAR  1862.  395 

patriotic,  thoroughly  organized  and  provided,  even  to 
profusion,  with  every  thing  essential  to  its  comfort  and 
efficiency — during  a  period  of  fifteen  months — had  con 
stantly  faced  and  fought  an  enemy,  without  accomplish 
ing  a  single  important  result.  Always  restrained  by 
the  over-cautiousness  of  its  commander  from  attacking 
the  enemy — Antietam  excepted,  where,  indeed,  it  was 
impossible  to  avoid  an  engagement — it  had  fought  every 
battle  on  the  defensive,  and  even  its  successes  were 
turned  into  defeats  by  the  strange  neglect  of  that  com 
mander  to  follow  up  the  advantages  gained ;  thus  giving 
to  the  enemy  ample  time  to  recuperate  and  prepare  for 
more  vigorous  resistance.  As  we  have  already  seen, 
this  style  of  warfare  was  not  such  as  commended  itself 
to  the  clear-sighted  and  practical,  though  cautious,  mind 
of  Mr.  Lincoln ;  who,  while  constantly  urging  more 
prompt  and  decisive  action  upon  the  general,  always 
gave  to  him,  to  the  fullest  extent  of  his  power,  all  the 
aid  which  was  at  the  disposal  of  the  government.  More 
than  that,  also,  with  the  generosity  so  peculiar  to  him 
self,  the  President,  while  personally  annoyed  by  these 
continual  delays  and  frequent  disasters,  and  implicated, 
in  a  measure,  in  the  odium  which  was  cast  upon  his 
subordinate — never  hesitated  to  protect  him  from  the 
rapidly  rising  tide  of  public  discontent  and  censure, 
even  when  it  obliged  him  to  "  shoulder  the  responsi 
bility."  Of  this  a  remarkable  instance  is  afforded  by 
the  following  speech  made  by  him,  at  a  meeting  held  in 
Washington,  August  6th,  after  the  retreat  of  the  army 
to  the  James  river,  but  before  its  withdrawal  from  the 
Peninsula. 

"  FELLOW-CITIZENS  : — I  believe  there  is  no  precedent  for  my 


396  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

appearing  before  you  on  this  occasion,  but  it  is  also  true  that 
there  is  no  precedent  for  your  being  here  yourselves,  and  I 
offer,  in  justification  of  myself  and  of  you,  that,  upon  examina 
tion,  I  have  found  nothing  in  the  Constitution  against  it.  I, 
however,  have  an  impression  that  there  are  younger  gentlemen 
who  will  entertain  you  better,  and  better  address  your  under 
standing  than  I  will  or  could,  and  therefore  I  propose  not  to 
detain  you  a  moment  longer. 

"  I  am  very  little  inclined  on  any  occasion  to  say  any  thing 
unless  I  hope  to  produce  some  good  by  it.  The  only  thing  I 
think  of  just  now  not  likely  to  be  better  said  by  some  one  else 
is  a  matter  in  which  we  have  heard  some  other  persons  blamed 
for  what  I  did  myself.  There  has  been  a  very  wide-spread 
attempt  to  have  a  quarrel  between  General  McGlellan  and  the 
Secretary  of  War.  Now,  I  occupy  a  position  that  enables  me 
to  observe,  that  these  two  gentlemen  are  not  nearly  so  deep  in 
the  quarrel  as  some  pretending  to  be  their  friends.  General 
McClellan's  attitude  is  such  that,  in  the  very  selfishness  of  his 
nature,  he  cannot  but  wish  to  be  successful,  and  I  hope  he  will — 
and  the  Secretary  of  War  is  in  precisely  the  same  situation. 
If  the  military  commanders  in  the  field  cannot  be  successful, 
not  only  the  Secretary  of  War,  but  myself,  for  the  time  being 
the  master  of  them  both,  cannot  but  be  failures.  I  know  Gen 
eral  McClellan  wishes  to  be  successful,  and  I  know  he  does  not 
wish  it  any  more  than  the  Secretary  of  War  for  him,  and  both 
of  them  together  no  more  than  I  wish  it.  Sometimes  we  have 
a  dispute  about  how  many  men  General  McClellan  has  had,  and 
those  who  would  disparage  him  say  that  he  has  had  a  very 
large  number,  and  those  who  would  disparage  the  Secretary  of 
War  insist  that  General  McClellan  has  had  a  very  small  number. 
The  basis  for  this  is,  there  is  always  a  wide  difference,  and  on 
this  occasion,  perhaps  a  wider  one  than  usual,  between  the 
grand  total  on  McClellan's  rolls  and  the  men  actually  fit  for 
duty  ;  and  those  who  would  disparage  him  talk  of  the  grand 
total  on  paper,  and  those  who  would  disparage  the  Secretary  of 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   OF   THE   TEAR   1862.  397 

War  talk  of  those  at  present  fit  for  duty.  General  McClellan 
has  sometimes  asked  for  things  that  the  Secretary  of  War  did 
not  give  him.  General  McClellan  is  not  to  blame  for  asking 
what  he  wanted  and  needed,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  is  not 
to  blame  for  not  giving  when  he  had  none  to  give.  And  I 
say  here,  as  far  as  I  know,  the  Secretary  of  War  has  withheld 
no  one  thing  at  any  time  in  my  power  to  give  him.  I  have  no 
accusation  against  him.  I  believe  he  is  a  brave  and  able  man, 
and  I  stand  here,  as  justice  requires  me  to  do,  to  take  upon  my 
self  what  has  been  charged  on  the  Secretary  of  War,  as  with 
holding  from  him. 

"  I  have  talked  longer  than  I  expected  to  do,  and  now  I  avail 
myself  of  my  privilege  of  saying  no  more." 

During  this  time  Mr.  Lincoln  worked  night  and  day 
in  his  office,  and  the  routine  of  his  daily  life  was  thus 
well  described  by  one  who  knew : 

"Mr.  Lincoln  is  an  early  riser,  and  he  thus  is  able  to  devote 
two  or  three  hours  each  morning  to  his  voluminous  private 
correspondence,  besides  glancing  at  a  city  paper.  At  nine  he 
breakfasts — .then  walks  over  to  the  War  Office,  to  read  such  war 
telegrams  as  they  give  him  (occasionally  some  are  withheld),  and 
to  have  a  chat  with  General  Halleck  on  the  military  situation,  in 
which  he  takes  a  great  interest.  Returning  to  the  White  House, 
he  goes  through  with  his  morning's  mail,  in  company  with  a 
private  secretary,  who  makes  a  minute  of  the  reply  which  he  is 
to  make — and  others  the  President  retains,  that  he  may  answer 
them  himself.  Every  letter  receives  attention,  and  all  wtich 
are  entitled  to  a  reply  receive  one,  no  matter  how  they  aie 
worded,  or  how  inelegant  the  chirography  may  be. 

"  Tuesdays  and  Fridays  are  Cabinet  days,  but  on  other  days 
visitors  at  the  White  House  are  requested  to  wait  in  the  ante 
chamber,  and  send  in  their  cards.  Sometimes,  before  the  Presi 
dent  has  finished  reading  his  mail,  Louis  will  have  a  handful  of 
pasteboard,  and  from  the  cards  laid  before  him  Mr.  Lincoln 


398  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

has  visitors  ushered  in,  giving  precedence  to  acquaintances. 
Three  or  four  hours  do  they  pour  in,  in  rapid  succession,  nine 
out  of  ten  asking  offices,  and  patiently  does  the  President  listen 
to  their  application.  Care  and  anxiety  have  furrowed  his  rather 
homely  features,  yet  occasionally  he  is  '  reminded  of  an  anec 
dote,'  and  good-humored  glances  beam  from  his  clear  grey 
eyes,  while  his  ringing  laugh  shows  that  he  is  not  'used  up' 
yet.  The  simple  and  natural  manner  in  which  he  delivers  his 
thoughts  makes  him  appear  to  those  visiting  him  like  an  earnest, 
affectionate  friend.  He  makes  little  parade  of  his  legal  science, 
and  rarely  indulges  in  speculative  propositions,  but  states  his 
ideas  in  plain  Anglo-Saxon,  illuminated  by  many  lively  images 
and  pleasing  allusions,  which  seem  to  flow  as  if  in  obedience  to 
a  restless  impulse  of  nature.  Some  newspaper  admirer  attempts 
to  deny  that  the  President  tells  stories.  Why,  it  is  rarely  that 
any  one  is  in  his  company  for  five  minutes  without  hearing  a 
good  tale,  appropriate  to  the  subject  talked  about.  Many  a 
metaphysical  argument  does  he  demolish  by  simply  telling  an 
anecdote,  which  exactly  overturns  the  verbal-  structure. 

"  About  four  o'clock  the  President  declines  seeing  any  more 
company,  and  often  accompanies  his  wife  in  her  carriage  to 
take  a  drive.  He  is  fond  of  horseback  exercise,  and  when 
passing  the  summers  home,  used  generally  to  go  in  the  saddle. 
The  President  dines  at  six,  and  it  is  rare  that  some  personal 
friends  do  not  grace  the  round  dining-table  where  he  throws  off 
the  cares  of  office,  and  reminds  those  who  have  been  in  Ken 
tucky  of  the  old  school  gentleman  who  used  to  dispense  gener 
ous  hospitality  there.  From  the  dinner  table  the  party  retire 
to  the  crimson  drawing-room,  where  coffee  is  served,  and  where 
the  President  passes  the  evening,  unless  some  dignitary  has  a 
special  interview.  Such  is  the  almost  unvarying  life  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln,  whose  administration  will  rank  next  in  importance 
to  that  of  AV^ashington  in  our  national  annals." 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.       399 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY    EVENTS    OF   THE   YEAR   1863. 

Second  Session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress. — The  Annual  Message. — 
Work  done  by  Congress. — The  President's  Message  on  the  Financial 
Bill. — His  policy  indorsed  by  the  popular  elections  in  some  of  the  New 
England  States. — A  Letter  from  the  Workingmen  of  Manchester 
(England),  and  the  President's  reply. — His  letter  to  the  State  Conven 
tion  at  Springfield,  111. — Proclamation  of  Pardon  and  Amnesty. — An 
nual  Message  of  December,  1863.—  TJie  Military  Events  of  1863.— The 
situation  at  the  opening  of  the  year. — Successes  in  the  West. — In  the 
East,  General  Burnside  is  relieved  by  General  Hooker,  who  fights  Lee 
at  Chancellorsville. — The  Battle  of  Gettysburg,  Pa. — The  President's 
Despatch. — His  Speech  at  the  Consecration  of  the  National  Cemetery 
at  Gettysburg. — Great  Rejoicings. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Speech  at  Washing 
ton, — His  Letter  to  General  Grant. — His  Proclamation  of  Thanksgiving, 
Prayer,  and  Praise. — Military  successes  in  Tennessee. — Proclamations. 
— Sketch  of  Events  arising  from  Arbitrary  Arrests  and  the  Suppression 
of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus. — Its  Suspension  in  May,  1861. — The 
Attorney-General  furnishes  an  opinion  on  it. — Arrest  of  the  Maryland 
Legislature. — Executive  Orders  in  relation  to  State  prisoners. — Pro 
clamation  of  September,  1862. — Factious  opposition  of  Hon.  C.  L. 
Vallandigham. — He  is  arrested,  tried,  and  sent  into  Rebeldom,  by  order 
of  the  President. — Great  excitement  following. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Letter 
to  Hon.  Erastus  Corning  and  others. — Mr.  Lincoln's  reply  to  the  Com 
mittee  of  the  Democratic  State  Convention. — Proclamation  of  Sep 
tember,  1863. — The  Draft  is  commenced. — Riots  in  New  York  city. — 
The  Missouri  Imbroglio. — Commences  in  1861. — The  President  at  last 
"  takes  hold  of  it,"  in  1863. — Letter  to  General  Schofield.— His  reply  to 
a  German  Fremont  Committee. — His  reply  to  a  Committee  from  the 
Mass  Convention  of  September,  1863. — Instructions  to  General  Scho 
field. — Foreign  Affairs. — French  proposition  for  a  mediation  in  Ameri 
can  Affairs.— It  is  declined  by  the  United  States.— The  President's 
reply. — The  Correspondence  between  Hon.  Fernando  Wood  and  Mr. 
Lincoln  on  the  subject  of  a  Conference  with  Rebel  authorities. 


400  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

THE  Thirty-seventh  Congress  convened,  for  its  second 
and  last  session,  on  the  first  of  December,  1862,  and  on 
the  same  day  both  Houses  received  from  the  President 
the  customary  annual  message.  In  view  of  the  marked 
events  of  the  preceding  session,  and  of  the  momentous 
circumstances  which  surrounded  the  nation,  this  docu 
ment  was  eagerly  looked  for,  and  its  reception  was,  in 
a  proportionate  degree,  favorable.  The  material  portions 
of  this  paper  are  as  follows : 

ANNUAL   MESSAGE,    1862. 
"FELLOW- CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE   AND   HOUSE    OF  KEPKE- 

SENTATIVES  : — Since  your  last  annual  assembling,  another  year 
of  health  and  bountiful  harvests  has  passed.  And,  while  it 
has  not  pleased  the  Almighty  to  bless  us  with  a  return  of 
peace,  we  can  but  press  on,  guided  by  the  best  light  He  gives 
us,  trusting  that,  in  His  own  good  time,  and  wise  way,  all  will 
yet  be  well. 

"If  the  condition  of  our  relations  with  other  nations  is  less 
gratifying  than  it  has  usually  been  at  former  periods,  it  is  cer 
tainly  more  satisfactory  than  a  nation  so  unhappily  distracted 
as  we  are,  might  reasonably  have  apprehended.  In  the  month 
of  June  last  there  were  some  grounds  to  expect  that  the  mari 
time  powers  which,  at  the  beginning  of  our  domestic  difficul 
ties,  so  unwisely  and  unnecessarily,  as  we  think,  recognized  the 
insurgents  as  a  belligerent,  would  soon  recede  from  that  posi 
tion,  which  has  proved  only  less  injurious  to  themselves  than 
to  our  own  country.  But  the  temporary  reverses  which  after 
ward  befell  the  national  arms,  and  which  were  exaggerated  by 
our  own  disloyal  citizens  abroad,  have  hitherto  delayed  that 
act  of  simple  justice. 

"The  civil  war,  which  has  so  radically  changed,  for  the 
moment,  the  occupations  and  habits  of  the  American  people, 


t 

THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS  OF   1863.      401 

has  necessarily  disturbed  the  social  condition,  and  affected  very 
deeply  the  prosperity  of  the  nations  with  which  we  have  car 
ried  on  a  commerce  that  has  been  steadily  increasing  through 
out  a  period  of  half  a  century.  It  has,  at  the  same  time,  excited 
political  ambitions  and  apprehensions  which  have  produced  a 
profound  agitation  throughout  the  civilized  world.  In  this 
unusual  agitation  we  have  forborne  from  taking  part  in  any 
controversy  between  foreign  States,  and  between  parties  or 
factions  in  such  States.  We  have  attempted  no  propagandism, 
and  acknowledged  no  revolution.  But  we  have  left  to  every 
nation  the  exclusive  conduct  and  management  of  its  own  affairs. 
Our  struggle  has  been,  of  course,  contemplated  by  foreign 
nations  with  reference  less  to  its  own  merits,  than  to  its  sup 
posed,  and  often  exaggerated,  effects  and  consequences  resulting 
to  those  nations  themselves.  Nevertheless,  complaint  on  the 
part  of  this  government,  even  if  it  were  just,  would  certainly 
be  unwise. 

"  The  treaty  with  Great  Britain  for  the  suppression  of  the 
slave  trade  has  been  put  into  operation,  with  a  good  prospect 
of  complete  success.  It  is  an  occasion  of  special  pleasure  to 
acknowledge  that  the  execution  of  it.  on  the  part  of  Her 
Majesty's  government,  has  been  marked  with  a  jealous  respect 
for  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  and  the  rights  of  their 
moral  and  loyal  citizens 

"  Applications  have  been  made  to  me  by  many  free  Ameri 
cans  of  African  descent  to  favor  their  emigration,  with  a  view 
to  such  colonization  as  was  contemplated  in  recent  acts  of  Con 
gress.  Other  parties,  at  home  and  abroad — some  from  inter 
ested  motives,  others  upon  patriotic  considerations,  and  still 
others  influenced  by  philanthropic  sentiments — have  suggested 
similar  measures;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  several  of  the 
Spanish- American  republics  have  protested  against  the  sending 
of  such  colonies  to  their  respective  territories.  Under  these 
circumstances,  I  have  declined  to  move  any  such  colony  to  any 
State,  without  first  obtaining  the  consent  of  its  government, 
26 


402  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

with  an  agreement  on  its  part  to  receive  and  protect  such  emi 
grants  in  all  the  rights  of  freemen ;  and  I  have,  at  the  same 
time,  offered  to  the  several,  States  situated  within  the  tropics, 
or  having  colonies  there,  to  negotiate  with  them,  subject  to  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  favor  the  voluntary  emigra 
tion  of  persons  of  that  class  to  their  respective  territories,  upon 
conditions  which  shall  be  equal,  just  and  humane.  Liberia  and 
Hayti  are,  as  yet,  the  only  countries  to  which  colonists  of  Afri 
can  descent  from  here,  could  go  with  certaint}^  of  being  received 
and  adopted  as  citizens ;  and  I  regret  to  say  such  persons,  con 
templating  colonization,  do  not  seem  so  willing  to  migrate  to 
those  countries,  as  fo  some  others,  nor  so  willing  as  I  think 
their  interest  demands.  I  believe,  however,  opinion  among 
them  in  this  respect  is  improving ;  and  that,  ere  long,  there  will 
be  an.  augmented  and  considerable  migration  to  both  these 
countries,  from  the  United  States 

"I  have  favored  the  project  for  connecting  the  United  States 
with  Europe  by  an  Atlantic  telegraph,  and  a  similar  project  to 
extend  the  telegraph  from  San  Francisco,  to  connect  by  a  Pacific 
telegraph  with  the  line  which  is  being  extended  across  the 
Eussian  Empire. 

"  The  Territories  of  the  United  States,  with  unimportant 
exceptions,  have  remained  undisturbed  by  the  civil  war ;  and 
they  are  exhibiting  such  evidence  of  prosperity  as  justifies  an 
expectation  that  some  of  them  will  soon  be  in  a  condition  to 
be  organized  as  States,  and  be  constitutionally  admitted  into  the 
Federal  Union. 

"  The  immense  mineral  resources  of  some  of  those  Territories 
ought  to  be  developed  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Every  step  in 
that  direction  would  have  a  tendency  to  improve  the  revenues 
of  the  government,  and  diminish  the  burdens  of  the  people. 
It  is  worthy  of  your  serious  consideration  whether  some  extra 
ordinary  measures  to  promote  that  end  cannot  be  adopted. 
The  means  which  suggests  itself  as  most  likely  to  be  effective, 
is  a  scientific  exploration  of  the  mineral  regions  in  those  Terri- 


THE   POLITICAL    AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.      403 

tories,  with  a  view  to  the  publication  of  its  results  at  home  and 
in  foreign  countries — results  which  cannot  fail  to  be  auspicious. 

"The  condition  of  the  finances  will  claim  your  most  diligent 
consideration.  The  vast  expenditures  incident  to  the  military 
and  naval  operations  required  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebel 
lion,  have  hitherto  been  met  with  a  promptitude  and  certainty 
unusual  in  similar  circumstances;  and  the  public  credit  has 
been  fully  maintained.  The  continuance  of  the  war,  however, 
and  the  increased  disbursements  made  necessary  by  the  aug 
mented  forces  now  in  the  field,  demand  your  best  reflections  as 
to  the  best  mode  of  providing  the  necessary  revenue,  without 
injury  to  business,  and  with  the  least  possible  burdens  upon 
labor. 

"  The  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks,  soon  after 
the  commencement  of  your  last  session,  made  large  issues  of 
United  States  notes  unavoidable.  In  no  other  way  could  the 
payment  of  the  troops,  and  the  satisfaction  of  other  just 
demands,  be  so  economically,  or  so  well  provided  for.  The 
judicious  legislation  of  Congress,  securing  the  receivability  of 
these  notes  for  loans  and  internal  duties,  and  making  them  a 
legal  tender  for  other  debts,  has  made  them  an  universal  cur 
rency  ;  and  has  satisfied,  partially,  at  least,  and  for  the  time, 
the  long  felt  want  of  an  uniform  circulating  medium,  saving 
thereby  to  the  people  immense  sums  in  discounts  and  ex 
changes. 

"A  return  to  specie  payments,  however,  at  the  earliest  period 
compatible  with  due  regard  to  all  interests  concerned,  should 
ever  be  kept  in  view.  Fluctuations  in  the  value  of  currency 
are  always  injurious,  and  to  reduce  these  fluctuations  to  the 
lowest  possible  point  will  always  be  a  leading  purpose  in  wise 
legislation.  Convertibility,  prompt  and  certain  convertibility 
into  coin,  is  generally  acknowledged  to  be  the  best  and  the 
surest  safeguard  against  them ;  and  it  is  extremely  doubtful 
whether  a  circulation  of  United  States  notes,  payable  in  coin, 


404  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  sufficiently  large  for  the  wants  of  the  people,  can  be  per- 
manently,  usefully  and  safely  maintained. 

"Is  there,  then,  any  other  mode  in  which  the  necessary  pro 
vision  for  the  public  wants  can  be  made,  and  the  great  advan 
tages  of  a  safe  and  uniform  currency  secured? 

"  I  know  of  none  which  promises  so  certain  results,  and  is,  at 
the  same  time,  so  unobjectionable,  as  the  organization  of  bank 
ing  associations,  under  a  general  act  of  Congress,  well  guarded 
in  its  provisions:  To  such  associations  the  government  might 
furnish  circulating  notes,  on  the  security  of  the  United  States 
bonds  deposited  in  the  treasury.  These  notes,  prepared  under 
the  supervision  of  proper  officers,  being  uniform  in  appearance 
and  security,  and  convertible  always  into  coin,  would  at  once 
protect  labor  against  the  evils  of  a  vicious  currency,  and  facili 
tate  commerce  by  cheap  and  safe  exchanges. 

"A  moderate  reservation  from  the  interest  on  the  bonds 
would  compensate  the  United  States  for  the  preparation  and 
distribution  of  the  notes  and  a  general  supervision  of  the 
system,  and  would  lighten  the  burdens  of  that  part  of  the 
public  debt  employed  as  securities.  The  public  credit,  more 
over,  would  be  greatly  improved,  and  the  negotiation  of  new 
loans  greatly  facilitated  by  the  steady  market  demand  for  gov 
ernment  bonds  which  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  system 
would  create. 

"  It  is  an  additional  recommendation  of  the  measure,  of  con 
siderable  weight,  in  my  judgment,  that  it  would  reconcile,  as 
far  as  possible,  all  existing  interests,  by  the  opportunity  offered 
to  existing  institutions  to  reorganize  under  the  act,  substitu 
ting  only  the  secured  uniform  national  circulation  for  the  local 
and  various  circulation,  secured  and  unsecured,  now  issued  by 
them. 

"On  the  22d  day  of  September  last  a  proclamation  was 
issued  by  the  Executive,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  sub 
mitted. 

"In  accordance  with  the  purpose  expressed  in  the  second 


THE   POLITICAL   AND    MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.       405 

paragraph  of  that  paper,  I  now  respectfully  recall  your  atten 
tion  to  what  may  be  called  '  compensated  emancipation/ 

"A  nation  may  be  said  to  consist  of  its  territory,  its  people 
and  its  laws.  The  territory  is  the  only  part  which  is  of  certain 
durability.  '  One  generation  passeth  away  and  another  gene 
ration  cometh,  but  the  earth  abideth  forever.'  It  is  of  the  first 
importance  to  duly  consider,  and  estimate,  this  ever-enduring 
part.  That  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  which  is  owned  and 
inhabited  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  is  well  adapted  to 
be  the  home  of  one  national  family ;  and  it  is  not  well  adapted 
for  two,  or  more.  Its  vast  extent,  and  its  variety  of  climate 
and  productions,  are  of  advantage,  in  this  age,  for  one  people, 
whatever  they  might  have  been  in  former  ages.  Steam,  tele 
graphs  and  intelligence  have  brought  these  to  be  an  advanta 
geous  combination  for  one  united  people. 

"  In  the  inaugural  address  I  briefly  pointed  out  the  total  in 
adequacy  of  disunion,  as  a  remedy  for  the  differences  between 
the  people  of  the  two  sections.  I  did  so  in  language  which  I 
cannot  improve,  and  which,  therefore,  I  beg  to  repeat : 

" '  One  section  of  our  country  believes  slavery  is  right,  and 
onght  to  be  extended,  while  the  other  believes  it  is  wrong,  and 
ought  not  to  be  extended.  This  is  the  only  substantial  dis 
pute.  The  fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
law  for  the  suppression  of  the  foreign  slave  trade,  are  each  as 
well  enforced,  perhaps,  as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community 
where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  imperfectly  supports  the 
law  itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the  dry  legal 
obligation  in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over  in  each.  This, 
I  think,  cannot  be  perfectly  cured ;  and  it  would  be  worse  in 
both  cases  after  the  separation  of  the  sections,  than  before. 
The  foreign  slave-trade,  now  imperfectly  suppressed,  would  be 
ultimately  revived  without  restriction  in  one  section;  while 
fugitive  slaves,  now  only  partially  surrendered,  would  not  be 
surrendered  at  all  by  the  other. 

" '  Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  separate.     We  cannot  re- 


406  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

move  our  respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an 
impassable  wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be 
divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  presence,  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
each  other ;  but  the  different  parts  of  our  country  cannot 
do  this.  They  cannot  but  remain  face  to  face ;  and  intercourse, 
either  amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue  between  them.  Is  it 
possible,  then,  to  make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or 
more  satisfactory,  after  separation  than  before?  Can  aliens 
make  treaties  easier  than  friends  can  make  laws  ?  Can  treaties 
be  more  faithfully  enforced  between  aliens  than  laws  can 
among  friends  ?  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  cannot  fight 
always;  and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain 
on  either,  you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  old  questions,  as  to 
terms  of  intercourse,  are  again  upon  you. 

"  There  is  no  line,  straight  or  crooked,  suitable  for  a  national 
boundary,  upon  which  to  divide.  Trace  through,  from  east  to 
west,  upon  the  line  between  the  free  and  slave  country,  and  we 
shall  find  a  little  more  than  one  third  of  its  length  are  rivers, 
easy  to  be  crossed,  and  populated,  or  soon  to  be  populated, 
thickly,  upon  both  sides ;  while  nearly  all  its  remaining  length 
are  merely  surveyor's  lines,  over  which  people  may  walk  back 
and  forth  without  any  consciousness  of  their  presence.  No 
part  of  this  line  can  be  made  any  more  difficult  to  pass,  by 
writing  it  down  on  paper  or  parchment,  as  a  national  boundary. 
The  fact  of  separation,  if  it  comes,  gives  up,  on  the  part  of  the 
seceding  section,  the  fugitive  slave  clause,  along  with  all  other 
constitutional  obligations  upon  the  section  seceded  from,  while 
I  should  expect  no  treaty  stipulation  would  ever  be  made 
to  take  its  place. 

"But  there  is  another  difficulty.  The  great  interior  region, 
bounded  east  by  the  Alleghanies,  north  by  the  British  Domin 
ions,  west  by  the  Eocky  Mountains,  and  south  by  the  line  along 
which  the  culture  of  corn  and  cotton  meets,  and  which  includes 
part  of  Virginia,  part  of  Tennessee,  all  of  Kentucky,  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa, 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.      407 

Minnesota,  and  the  Territories  of  Dakotah,  Nebraska,  and  part 
of  Colorado,  already  has  above  ten  millions  of  people,  and  will 
have  fifty  millions  within  fifty  years,  if  not  prevented  by  any 
political  folly  or  mistake.  It  contains  more  than  one  third  of 
the  country  owned  by  the  United  Ststes — certainly  more  than 
one  million  of  square  miles.  Once  half  as  populous  as  Massa 
chusetts  already  is,  it  would  have  more  than  seventy-five  mil 
lions  of  people.  A  glance  at  the  map  shows  that,  territorially 
speaking,  it  is  the  great  body  of  the  Eepublic.  The  other 
parts  are  but  marginal  borders  to  it ;  the  magnificent  region 
sloping  west  from  the  Eocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific,  being 
the  deepest,  and  also  the  richest,  in  undeveloped  resources.  In 
the  production  of  provisions,  grains,  grasses,  and  all  which  pro 
ceed  from  them,  this  great  interior  region  is  naturally  one  of 
the  most  important  in  the  world.  Ascertain  from  the  statistics 
the  small  proportion  of  the  region  which  has,  as  yet,  been 
brought  into  cultivation,  and  also  the  large  and  rapidly  increas 
ing  amount  of  its  products,  and  we  shall  be  overwhelmed  with 
the  magnitude  of  the  prospect  presented.  And  yet  this  region 
has  no  sea-coast,  touches  no  ocean  any  where.  As  part  of  one 
nation,  its  people  now  find,  and  may  forever  find,  their  way  to 
Europe  by  New  York,  to  South  America  and  Africa  by  New 
Orleans,  and  to  Asia  by  San  Francisco.  But  separate  our 
common  country  into  two  nations,  as  designed  by  the  present 
rebellion,  and  every  man  of  this  great  interior  region  is  thereby 
cut  off  from  some  one  or  more  of  these  outlets,  not,  perhaps, 
by  a  physical  barrier,  but  by  embarrassing  and  onerous  trade 
regulations. 

'And  this  is  true  wherever  a  dividing  or  boundary  line  may 
be  fixed.  Place  it  between  the  now  free  and  slave  country,  or 
place  it  south  of  Kentucky,  or  north  of  Ohio,  and  still  the  truth 
remains — that  none  south  of  it  can  trade  to  any  port  or  place 
north  of  it,  and  none  north  of  it  can  trade  to  any  port  or  place 
south  of  it,  except  upon  terms  dictated  by  a  government  foreign 
to  them.  These  outlets,  east,  west,  and  south,  are  indispensable 


408  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

to  the  well-being  of  the  people  inhabiting,  and  to  inhabit,  this 
vast  interior  region.  Which  of  the  three  may  be  the  best,  is 
no  proper  question.  All  are  better  than  either ;  and  all,  of 
right,  belong  to  that  people  and  to  their  successors  forever. 
True  to  themselves,  they  will  not  ask  where  a  line  of  separation 
shall  be,  but  will  vow,  rather,  that  there  shall  be  no  such  line. 
Nor  are  the  marginal  regions  less  interested  in  these  commu 
nications  to,  and  through  them  to  the  great  outside  world. 
They  too,  and  each  of  them,  must  have  access  to  this  Egypt 
of  the  West  without  paying  toll  at  the  crossing  of  any  na 
tional  boundary. 

"  Our  national  strife  springs  not  from  our  permanent  part ; 
not  from  the  land  we  inhabit ;  not  from  our  national  home 
stead.  There  is  no  possible  severing  of  this  but  would  mul 
tiply,  and  not  mitigate  evils  among  us.  In  all  its  adaptations 
and  aptitudes,  it  demands  union,  and  abhors  separation.  In 
fact  it  would,  ere  long,  force  reunion,  however  much  of  blood 
and  treasure  the  separation  might  have  cost. 

"  Our  strife  pertains  to  ourselves — to  the  passing  generations 
of  men ;  and  it  can,  without  convulsion,  be  hushed  forever  with 
the  passing  of  one  generation. 

"  In  this  view,  I  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution,  and  articles  amendatory  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States : 

"'Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  Souse  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  (two-thirds  of 
both  Houses  concurring,)  That  the  following  articles  be  pro 
posed  to  the  Legislatures  (or  conventions)  of  the  several  States 
as  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  all  or 
any  of  which'  articles,  when  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the  said 
Legislatures  (or  conventions),  to  be  valid  as  part  or  parts  of 
the  said  Constitution,  viz  : 

"  'AKTICLE  — .  Every  State,  wherein  slavery  now  exists, 
which  shall  abolish  the  same  therein,  at  any  time,  or  times,  be 
fore  the  first  day  of  January;  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.     409 

thousand  and  nine  hundred,  shall  receive  compensation  from 
the  United  States  as  follows,  to  wit : 

" '  The  President  of  the  United  States  shall  deliver,  to  every 
such  State,  bonds  of  the  United  States,  bearing  interest  at  the 
rate  of  -  -  per  cent,  per  annum,  to  an  amount  equal  to  the 

aggregate   sum   of for   each    slave 

shown  to  have  been  therein  by  the  eighth  census  of  the  United 
States,  said  bonds  to  be  delivered  to  such  State  by  instalments, 
or  in  one  parcel,  at  the  completion  of  the  abolishment,  accord 
ingly  as  the  same  shall  have  been  gradual,  or  at  one  time, 
within  such  State ;  and  interest  shall  begin  to  run  upon  any 
such  bond,  only  from  the  proper  time  of  its  delivery  as  afore 
said.  Any  State,  having  received  bonds  as  aforesaid,  and  after 
ward  reintroducing  or  tolerating  slavery  therein,  shall  refund 
to  the  United  States  the  bonds  so  received,  or  the  value  thereof, 
and  all  interest  paid  thereon. 

"  'ARTICLE  — .  All  slaves  who  shall  have  enjoyed  actual 
freedom  by  the  chances  of  the  war,  at  any  time  before  the  end 
of  the  rebellion,  shall  be  forever  free ;  but  all  owners  of  such, 
who  shall  not  have .  been  disloyal,  shall  be  compensated  for 
them,  at  the  same  rate  as  is  provided  for  States  adopting  abol 
ishment  of  slavery,  but  •  in  such  way,  that  no  slave  shall  be 
twice  accounted  for. 

"  'ARTICLE  — .  Congress  may  appropriate  money,  and  other 
wise  provide  for  colonizing  free  colored  persons,  with  their  own 
consent,  at  any  place  or  places  without  the  United  States.' 

"  I  beg  indulgence  to  discuss  these  proposed  articles  at  some 
length.  Without  slavery,  the  rebellion  could  never  have  ex 
isted  ;  without  slavery,  it  could  not  continue. 

'Among  the  friends  of  the  Union,  there  is  great  diversity  of 
sentiment  and  of  policy,  in  regard  to  slavery  and  the  African 
race  among  us.  Some  would  perpetuate  slavery ;  some  would 
abolish  it  suddenly,  and  without  compensation  ;  some  would 
abolish  it  gradually,  and  with  compensation ;  some  would 
remove  the  freed  people  from  us,  and  some  would  retain  them 


410  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

with  us;  and  there  are  yet  other  minor  diversities.  Because 
of  these  diversities,  we  waste  much  strength  in  struggles 
among  ourselves.  By  mutual  concession  we  should  harmonize 
and  act  together.  This  would  be  compromise ;  but  it  would 
be  compromise  among  the  friends,  and  not  with  the  enemies  of 
the  Union.  These  articles  are  intended  to  embody  a  plan  of 
such  mutual  concessions.  If  the  plan  shall  be  adopted,  it  is 
assumed  that  emancipation  will  follow,  at  least  in  several  of 
the  States. 

"  As  to  the  first  article,  the  main  points  are :  first,  the 
emancipation;  secondly,  the  length  of  time  for  consummating 
it — thirty-seven  years ;  and  thirdly,  the  compensation. 

"  The  emancipation  will  be  unsatisfactory  to  the  advocates  of 
perpetual  slavery;  but  the  length  of  time  should  greatly  miti 
gate  their  dissatisfaction.  The  time  spares  both  races  from  the 
evils  of  sudden  derangement — in  fact,  from  the  necessity  of  any 
derangement — while  most  of  those  whose  habitual  course  of 
thought  will  be  disturbed  by  the  measure,  will  have  passed 
away  before  its  consummation.  They  will  never  see  it.  An 
other  class  will  hail  the  prospect  of  emancipation,  but  will 
deprecate  the  length  of  time.  They  will  feel  that  it  gives 
too  little  to  the  now  living  slaves.  -But  it  really  gives  them 
much.  It  saves  them  from  the  vagrant  destitution  which 
must  largely  attend  immediate  emancipation  in  localities  where 
their  numbers  are  very  great ;  and  it  gives  the  inspiring 
assurance  that  their  posterity  shall  be  free  forever.  The  plan 
leaves  to  each  State,  choosing  to  act  under  it,  to  abolish  slavery 
now,  or  at  the  end  of  the  century,  or  at  any  intermediate  time, 
or  by  degrees,  extending  over  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the 
period ;  and  it  obliges  no  two  States  to  proceed  alike.  It  also 
provides  for  compensation,  and  generally,  the  mode  of  making 
if. '""This,  it  would  seem,  must  further  mitigate  the  dissatisfac 
tion  of  those  who  favor  perpetual  slavery,  and  especially  of 
those  who  are  to  receive  the  compensation.  Doubtless,  some 
of  those  who  are  to  pay,  and  not  to  receive,  will  object.  Yet 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.      411 

the  measure  is  both  just  and  economical.  In  a  certain  sense, 
the  liberation  of  slaves  is  the  destruction  of  property — property 
acquired  by  descent,  or  by  purchase,  the  same  as  any  other 
property.  It  is  no  less  true  for  having  been  often  said,  that 
the  people  of  the  South  are  not  more  responsible  for  the 
original  introduction  of  this  property,  than  are  the  people  of 
the  North ;  and  when  it  is  remembered  how  unhesitatingly  we 
all  use  cotton  and  sugar,  and  share  the  profits  of  dealing 
in  them,  it  may  not  be  quite  safe  to  say,  that  the  South  has 
been  more  responsible  than  the  North  for  its  continuance.  If, 
then,  for  a  common  object,  this  property  is  to  be  sacrificed,  is 
it  not  just  that  it  be  done  at  a  common  charge  ? 

"And  if,  with  less  money,  or  money  more  easily  paid,  we 
can  preserve  the  benefits  of  the  Union  by  this  means,  than  we 
can  by  the  war  alone,  is  it  not  also  economical  to  do  it  ?  Let  us 
consider  it,  then.  Let  us  ascertain  the  sum  we  have  expended 
in  the  war  since  compensated  emancipation  was  proposed  last 
March,  and  consider  whether,  if  that  measure  had  been 
promptly  accepted,  by  even  some  of  the  slave  States,  the  same 
sum  would  not  have  done  more  to  close  the  war,  than  has  been 
otherwise  done.  If  so,  the  measure  would  save  money,  and, 
in  that  view,  would  be  a  prudent  and  economical  measure. 
Certainly  it  is  not  so  easy  to  pay  something  as  it  is  to  pay 
nothing ;  but  it  is  easier  to  pay  a  large  sum,  than  it  is  to  pay  a 
larger  one.  And  it  is  easier  to  pay  any  sum  when  we  are  able, 
than  it  is  to  pay  it  before  we  are  able.  The  war  requires  large 
sums,  and  requires  them  at  once.  The  aggregate  sum  neces 
sary  for  compensated  emancipation,  of  course,  would  be  large. 
But  it  would  require  no  ready  cash ;  nor  the  bonds  even,  any 
faster  than  the  emancipation  progresses.  This  might  not,  and 
probably  would  not,  close  before  the  end  of  the  thirty-seven 
years.  At  that  time  we  shall  probably  have  a  hundred 
millions  of  people  to  share  the  burden,  instead  of  thirty-one 
millions,  as  now.  And  not  only  so,  but  the  increase  of  our 
population  may  be  expected  to  continue  for  a  long  time  after 


412  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

that  period,  as  rapidly  as  before ;  because  our  territory  will 
not  have  become  full.  I  do  not  state  this  inconsiderately.  At 
the  same  ratio  of  increase  which  we  have  maintained,  on 
an  average,  from  our  first  national  census,  in  1790,  until  that  of 
1860,  we  should,  in  1900,  have  a  population  of  one  hundred 
and  three  millions,  two  hundred  and  eight  thousand,  four 
hundred  and  fifteen.  And  why  may  we  not  continue  that  ratio 
far  beyond  that  period?  Our  abundant  room — our  broad 
national  homestead — is  our  ample  resource.  Were  our  terri 
tory  as  limited  as  are  the  British  Isles,  very  certainly  our 
population  could  not  expand  as  stated.  Instead  of  receiving 
the  foreign  born,  as  now,  we  should  be  compelled  to  send  part 
of  the  native  born  away.  But  such  is  not  our  condition.  We 
have  two  millions  nine  hundred  and  sixty-three  thousand 
square  miles.  Europe  has  three  millions  and  eight  hundred 
thousand,  with  a  population  averaging  seventy-three  and  one- 
third  persons  to  the  square  mile.  Why  may  not  our  country, 
at  some  time,  average  as  many  ?  Is  it  less  fertile  ?  Has  it 
more  waste  surface,  by  mountains,  rivers,  lakes,  deserts,  or 
other  causes  ?  Is  it  inferior  to  Europe  in  any  natural  advan 
tage?  If,  then,  we  are,  at  some  time,  to  be  as  populous  as 
Europe,  how  soon?  As  to  when  this  may  be,  we  can  judge  by 
the  past  and  the  present ;  as  to  when  it  will  be,  if  ever,  depends 
much  on  whether  we  maintain  the  Union.  Several  of  our 
States  are  already  above  the  average  of  Europe — seventy-three 
and  a  third  to  the  square  mile.  Massachusetts  has  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty-seven;  Ehode  Island,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  ;  Connecticut,  ninety-nine ;  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
each,  eighty.  Also  two  other  great  States,  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio,  are  not  far  below,  the  former  having  sixty- three,  and  the 
latter  fifty-nine.  The  States  already  above  the  European 
average,  except  New  York,  have  increased  in  as  rapid  a  ratio, 
since  passing  that  point,  as  ever  before ;  while  no  one  of  them 
is  equal  to  some  other  parts  of  our  country,  in  natural  capacity 
for  sustaining  a  dense  population. 


THE    POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.     413 

"  Taking  the  nation  in  the  aggregate,  and  we  find  its  popula 
tion  and  ratio  of  increase,  for  the  several  decennial  periods,  to 
be  as  follows : 

1790 3,929,827 

1800 5,305,937  35.02  per  cent,  ratio  of  increase 

1810 7,239,814  36.45         "                " 

1820 9,638,131  33.13 

1830 12,866,020  33.49         "                " 

1840 17,069,453  32.67 

1850 23,191,876  35.87 

1860 31,443,790  35.58        "                " 

"  This  shows  an  average  decennial  increase  of  34.60  per  cent, 
in  population  through  the  seventy  years  from  our  first,  to  our 
last  census  yet  taken.  It  is  seen  that  the  ratio  of  increase,  at 
no  one  of  these  seven  periods,  is  either  two  per  cent,  below,  or 
two  per  cent,  above,  the  average,  thus  showing  how  inflexible, 
and,  consequently,  how  reliable,  the  law  of  increase,  in  our 
case  is.  Assuming  that  it  will  continue,  gives  the  following 
results : 

1870 42,323,341 

1880 56,967,216 

1890 76,677,872 

1900 103,208,415 

1910 138.918,526 

1920 186,984,335 

1930 251,680,914 

"  These  figures  show  that  our  country  may  be  as  populous 
as  Europe  now  is,  at  some  point  between  1920  and  1930 — say 
about  1925 — our  territory,  at  seventy-three  and  a  third 
persons  to  the  square  mile,  having  the  capacity  to  contain 
217,186,000. 

"  And  we  will  reach  this,  too,  if  we  do  not  ourselves  relin- 
guish  the  chance,  by  the  folly  and  evils  of  disunion,  or  by  long 
and  exhausting  war,  springing  from  the  only  great  element  of 


414  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

national  discord  among  us.  While  it  can  not  be  foreseen 
exactly  how  much  one  huge  example  of  secession,  breeding 
lesser  ones  indefinitely,  would  retard  population,  civilization, 
and  prosperity,  no  one  can  doubt  that  the  extent  of  it  would 
be  very  great  and  injurious. 

"The  proposed  emancipation  would  shorten  the  war,  per 
petuate  peace,  insure  this  increase  of  population,  and  propor 
tionately  the  wealth  of  the  country.  With  these,  we  should 
pay  all  the  emancipation  would  cost,  together  with  our  other 
debt,  easier  than  we  should  pay  our  other  debt  without  it.  If 
we  had  allowed  our  old  national  debt  to  run  at  six  per  cent, 
per  annum,  simple  interest,  from  the  end  of  our  revolutionary 
struggle  until  to-day,  without  paying  any  thing  on  either 
principal  or  interest,  each  man  of  us  would  owe  less  upon  that 
debt  now,  than  each  man  owed  upon  it  then ;  and  this  because 
our  increase  of  men,  through  the  whole  period,  has  been  greater 
than  six  per  cent.;  has  run  faster  than  the  interest  upon  the 
debt.  Thus,  time  alone  relieves  a  debtor  nation,  so  long  as  its 
population  increases  faster  than  unpaid  interest  accumulates  on 
its  debt. 

"This  fact  would  be  no  excuse  for  delaying  payment  of  what 
is  justly  due  ;  but  it  shows  the  great  importance  of  time  in  this 
connection — the  great  advantage  of  a  policy  by  which  we  shall 
not  have  to  pay  until  we  number  a  hundred  millions,  what,  by 
a  different  policy,  we  would  have  to  pay  now,  when  we  number 
but  thirty-one  millions.  In  a  word,  it  shows  that  a  dollar  will 
be  much  harder  to  pay  for  the  war,  than  will  be  a  dollar  for 
emancipation  on  the  proposed  plan.  And  then  the  latter  will 
cost  no  blood,  no  precious  life.  It  will  be  a  saving  of  both. 

"As  to  the  second  article,  I  think  it  would  be  impracticable 
to  return  to  bondage  the  class  of  persons  therein  contemplated. 
Some  of  them,  doubtless,  in  the  property  sense,  belong  to  loyal 
owners ;  and  hence,  provision  is  made  in  this  article  for  com 
pensating  such. 

"The  third  article  relates  to  the  future  of  the  freed  people. 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  1863.      415 

It  does  not  oblige,  but  merely  authorizes,  Congress  to  aid  in 
colonizing  such  as  may  consent.  This  ought  not  to  be  regarded 
as  objectionable,  on  the  one  hand  or  on  the  other,  in  so  much 
as  it  comes  to  nothing,  unless  by  the  mutual  consent  of  the 
people  to  be  deported,  and  the  American  voters,  through  their 
representatives  in  Congress. 

"  I  cannot  make  it  better  known  than  it  already  is,  that  I 
strongly  favor  colonization.  And  yet  I  wish  to  say  there  is  an 
objection  urged  against  free  colored  persons  remaining  in  the 
country,  which  is  largely  imaginable,  if  not  sometimes  mali 
cious. 

"  It  is  insisted  that  their  presence  would  injure  and  displace 
white  labor  and  white  laborers.  If  there  ever  could  be  a  proper 
time  for  mere  catch  arguments,  that  time  surely  is  not  now.  In 
times  like  the  present,  men  should  utter  nothing  for  which 
they  would  not  willingly  be  responsible  through  time  and  in 
eternity.  Is  it  true,  then,  that  colored  people  can  displace  any 
more  white  labor  by  being  free,  than  by  remaining  slaves  ?  If 
they  stay  in  their  old  places,  they  jostle  no  white  laborers ;  if 
they  leave  their  old  places,  they  leave  them  open  to  white 
laborers.  Logically,  there  is  neither  more  nor  less  of  it. 
Emancipation,  even  without  deportation,  would  probably  en 
hance  the  wages  of  white  labor,  and,  very  surely,  would  not 
reduce  them.  Thus,  the  customary  amount  of  labor  would 
still  have  to  -be  performed ;  the  freed  people  would  surely  not 
do  more  than  their  old  proportion  of  it,  and  very  probably,  for 
a  time,  would  do  less,  leaving  an  increased  part  to  white 
laborers,  bringing  their  labor  into  greater  demand,  and  conse 
quently,  enhancing  the  wages  of  it.  With  deportation,  even  to 
a  limited  extent,  enhanced  wages  to  white  labor  is  mathemati 
cally  certain.  Labor  is  like  any  other  commodity  in  the 
market — increase  the  demand  for  it,  and  you  increase  the 
price  of  it.  Eeduce  the  supply  of  black  labor,  by  colonizing 
the  black  laborer  out  of  the  country,  and  by  precisely  so  much, 
you  increase  the  demand*for,  and  wages  of,  white  labor. 


416  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"  But  it  is  dreaded  that  the  freed  people  will  swarm  forth, 
and  cover  the  whole  land  ?  Are  they  not  already  in  the  land  ? 
Will  liberation  make  them  any  more  numerous  ?  Equally  dis 
tributed  among  the  whites  of  the  whole  country,  and  there 
would  be  but  one  colored  to  seven  whites.  Could  the  one,  in 
any  way,  greatly  disturb  the  seven  ?  There  are  many  com 
munities  now,  having  more  than  one  free  colored  person  to 
seven  whites ;  and  this  without  any  apparent  consciousness  of 
evil  from  it.  The  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  States  of 
Maryland  and  Delaware,  are  all  in  this  condition.  The  District 
has  more  than  one  free  colored  to  six  whites ;  and  yet,  in  its 
frequent  petitions  to  Congress,  I  believe  it  has  never  presented 
the  presence  of  free  colored  persons  as  one  of  its  grievances. 
But  why  should  emancipation  South  send  the  freed  people 
North?  People,  of  any  color,  seldom  run,  unless  there  be 
something  to  run  from.  Heretofore,  colored  people,  to  some 
extent,  have  fled  North  from  bondage ;  and  now,  perhaps,  from 
both  bondage  and  destitution.  But  if  gradual  emancipation 
and  deportation  be  adopted,  they  will  have  neither  to  flee  from. 
Their  old  masters  will  give  them  wages,  at  least  until  new 
laborers  can  be  procured;  and  the  freed  men,  in  turn,  will 
gladly  give  their  labor  for  the  wages,  till  new  homes  can  be 
found  for  them  in  congenial  climes,  and  with  people  of  their 
own  blood  and  race.  This  proposition  can  be  trusted  on  the 
mutual  interest  involved.  And,  in  any  event,  cannot  the 
North  decide  for  itself,  whether  to  receive  them? 

"Again,  as  practice  proves  more  than  theory,  in  any  case, 
has  there  been  any  irruption  of  colored  people  northward, 
because  of  the  abolishment  of  slavery  in  this  District  last 
spring  ? 

"  What  I  have  said  of  the  proportion  of  free  colored  persons 
to  the  whites,  in  the  District,  is  from  the  census  of  1860,  having 
no  reference  to  persons  called  contrabands,  nor  to  those  made 
free  by  the  act  of  Congress  abolishing  slavery  here. 

"  The  plan  consisting  of  these  arftcles  is  recommended,  not 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      417 

but  that  a  restoration  of  the  national  authority  would  be  ac 
cepted  without  its  adoption. 

"  Nor  will  the  war,  nor  proceedings  under  the  proclamation 
of  September  22,  1862,  be  stayed  because  of  the  recommendation 
of  this  plan.  Its  timely  adoption,  I  doubt  not,  would  bring 
restoration,  and  thereby  stay  both. 

"And,  notwithstanding  this  plan,  the  recommendation  that 
Congress  provide  by  law  for  compensating  any  State  which 
may  adopt  emancipation,  before  this  plan  shall  have  been  acted 
upon,  is  hereby  earnestly  renewed.  Such  would  be  only  an 
advance  part  of  the  plan,  and  the  same  arguments  apply  to 
both. 

"  This  plan  is  recommended  as  a  means,  not  in  exclusion  of 
but  in  addition  to,  all  others  for  restoring  and  preserving  the 
national  authority  throughout  the  Union.  The  subject  is  pre 
sented  exclusively  in  its  economical  aspect.  The  plan  would, 
I  am  confident,  secure  peace  more  speedily,  and  maintain  it 
more  permanently,  than  can  be  done  by  force  alone ;  while  all 
it  would  cost,  considering  amounts,  and  manner  of  payment, 
and  times  of  payment,  would  be  easier  paid  than  will  be  the 
additional  cost  of  the  war,  if  we  rely  solely  upon  force.  It  is 
much — very  much — that  it  would  cost  no  blood  at  all. 

"  The  plan  is  proposed  as  permanent  constitutional  law.  It 
cannot  become  such  without  the  concurrence  of,  first,  two-thirds 
of  Congress,  and,  afterward,  three-fourths  of  the  States.  The 
requisite  three-fourths  of  the  States  will  necessarily  include 
seven  of  the  slave  States.  Their  concurrence,  if  obtained,  will 
give  assurance  of  their  severally  adopting  emancipation,  at  no 
very  distant  day,  upon  the  new  constitutional  terms.  This 
assurance  would  end  the  struggle  now,  and  save  the  Union 
forever. 

"  I  do  not  forget  the  .gravity  which  should  characterize  a 
paper  addressed  to  the  Congress  of  the  nation,  by  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  nation.  Nor  do  I  forget  that  some  of  you 
are  my  seniors ;  nor  that  many  of  you  have  more  experience 

27 


418  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

than  I,  in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs.  Yet  I  trust  that,  in 
view  of  the  great  responsibility  resting  upon  me,  you  will  per 
ceive  no  want  of  respect  to  yourselves,  in  any  undue  earnest 
ness  I  may  seem  to  display. 

"Is  it  doubted,  then,  that  the  plan  I  propose,  if  adopted, 
would  shorten  the  war,  and  thus  lessen  its  expenditure  of 
money  and  of  blood  ?  Is  it  doubted  that  it  would  restore  the 
national  authority  and  national  prosperity,  and  perpetuate  both 
indefinitely?  Is  it  doubted  that  we  here — Congress  and  Execu 
tive — can  secure  its  adoption?  Will  not  the  good  people 
respond  to  a  united  and  earnest  appeal  from  us  ?  Can  we,  can 
they,  by  any  other  means,  so  certainly,  or  so  speedily,  assure 
these  vital  objects  ?  We  can  succeed  only  by  concert.  It  is 
not  'Can  any  of  us  imagine  better?'  but,  'Can  we  all  do 
better?'  Object  whatsoever  is  possible,  still  the  question 
recurs,  '  Can  we  do  better  ?'  The  dogmas  of  the  quiet  past  are 
inadequate  to  the  stormy  present.  The  occasion  is  piled  high 
with  difficulty,  and  we  must  rise  with  the  occasion.  As  our 
case  is  new,  so  we  must  think  anew,  and  act  anew.  We  must 
disenthrall  ourselves,  and  then  we  shall  save  our  country. 

"Fellow-citizens,  we  cannot  escape  history.  We,  of  this 
Congress  and  this  administration,  will  be  remembered  in  spite 
of  ourselves.  No  personal  significance,  or  insignificance,  can 
spare  one  or  another  of  us.  The  fiery  trial  through  which  we 
pass,  will  light  us  down,  in  honor  or  dishonor,  to  the  latest 
generation.  We  say  we  are  for  the  Union.  The  world  will 
not  forget  that  we  say  this.  We  know  how  to  save  the  Union. 
The  world  knows  we  do  know  how  to  save  it.  We — even  ice 
here — hold  the  power,  and  bear  the  responsibility.  In  giving 
freedom  to  the  slave,  we  assure  freedom  to  the  free — honorable 
alike  in  what  we  give,  and  what  we  preserve.  We  shall  nobly 
save,  or  meanly  lose,  the  last  best  hope  of  earth.  Other  means 
may  succeed ;  this  could  not  fail.  The  way  is  plain,  peaceful, 
generous,  just — a  way  which,  if  followed,  the  world  will  forever 
applaud,  and  God  must  forever  bless. 

"December  1,  1862.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      419 

At  the  very  outset  of  the  session,  the  opposition 
leaders,  elated  with  their  recent  successes  in  the  elec 
tions,  brought  forward  resolutions  strongly  censuring  the 
Administration  for  its  arrest  of  persons,  in  the  loyal 
States,  suspected  of  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  rebel 
lion.  Prolonged  discussion  on  the  subject,  resulted  at 
length  in  the  passage  of  a  bill  fully  indorsing  the  action 
of  the  Executive  in  the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus 
act,  and  indemnifying  the  President,  as  well  as  all 
governmental  officials  concerned  in  such  arrests  as  had 
been  made;  and  further,  authorizing  the  President, 
during  the  existence  of  the  war,  to  declare  the  suspen 
sion  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  "  at  such  times,  and 
in  such  places,  and  with  regard  to  such  persons,  as  in 
his  judgment  the  public  safety  may  require." 

The  relations  in  which  the  rebel  States  were  placed 
by  their  secession,  towards  the  general  government, 
came  up  before  the  House,  and  was  warmly  debated, 
but  no  vote  was  taken  which  directly  implicated  the  * 
opinion  of  the  House  on  the  theoretical  question  in 
volved.  A  bill  directing  the  President  to  raise,  arm, 
and  equip  as  many  volunteers  of  African  descent  as  he 
might  deem  useful,  for  such  term  of  service  as  he  might 
think  proper,  not  exceeding  five  years — to  be  officered 
by  white  or  black  persons,  in  the  President's  discretion- 
slaves  to  be  accepted  as  well  as  freemen,  was,  after  con 
siderable  discussion,  passed.  It  was,  however,  on  reach 
ing  the  Senate,  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs,  which,  on  the  12th  of  February,  reported 
against  its  passage,  on  the  ground  that  the  authority 
which  it  was  intended  to  confer  upon  the  President  was 
already  sufficiently  granted  in  the  act  of  the  previous 


420  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

session,  approved  July  17,  1862,  which  authorized  the 
President  to  employ,  in  any  military  or  naval  service 
'for  which  they  might  be  found  competent,  persons  of 
African  descent. 

A  bill,  commonly  known  as  the  "  Conscription  Act," 
was  passed,  providing  for  the  creation  of  a  national 
force  by  enrolling  and  drafting  the  militia  of  the  whole 
country, — each  State  being  required  to  contribute  its 
quota  in  the  ratio  of  its  population,  and  the  whole  force, 
when  raised,  to  be  under  the  control  of  the  President. 
Some  measure  of  the  kind  was  rendered  absolutely 
necessary  by  the  revival  of  party  spirit  throughout  the 
loyal  States,  and  by  the  active  and  effective  efforts  of 
the  Democratic  party,  emboldened  by  the  results  of  the 
fall  elections  of  1862,  to  discourage  and  prevent  yolun- 
teering.  So  successful  had  they  been  in  this  work,  that 
the  government  seemed  likely  to  fail  in  its  efforts  to 
raise  men  for  another  campaign;  and  it  was  to  avert 
this  disaster  that  the  bill  in  question  was  brought 
forward  for  the  action  of  Congress. 

A  financial  bill  was  also  passed  by  both  houses, 
authorizing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  borrow 
and  issue  bonds  for  nine  hundred  million  dollars,  at  not 
more  than  six  per  cent,  interest,  and  payable  at  not  less 
than  ten,  nor  more  than  forty  years.  He  was  also 
authorized  to  issue  treasury  interest-bearing  notes  to  the 
amount  of  four  hundred  million  dollars,  and  notes  not 
bearing  interest  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  During  the  pendency  of  this  bill,  a 
joint  resolution  passed  both  houses,  authorizing  the 
issue  of  one  hundred  million  dollars  in  treasury  notes  to 
meet  the  immediate  wants  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  ha 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.     421 

service.      The    President's   approval   of  this   bill   was 
accompanied  by  a  special  message,  in  which  he  remarks : 

"  While  giving  this  approval,  however,  I  think  it  my  duty 
to  express  my  sincere  regret  that  it  has  been  found  necessary 
to  authorize  so  large  an  additional  issue  of  United  States  notes, 
when  this  circulation,  and  that  of  the  suspended  banks  together, 
have  become  already  so  redundant  as  to  increase  prices  beyond 
real  values,  thereby  augmenting  the  cost  of  living  to  the  injury 
of  labor,  and  the  cost  of  supplies,  to  the  injury  of  the  whole 
country.  It  seems  very  plain  that  continued  issues  of  United 
States  notes,  without  any  check  to  the  issues  of  suspended 
banks,  and  without  adequate  provision  for  the  raising  of  money 
by  loans,  and  for  funding  the  issues,  so  as  to  keep  them  within 
due  limits,  must  soon  produce  disastrous  consequences;  and 
this  matter  appears  to  me  so  important  that  I  feel  bound  to 
avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  ask  the  special  attention  of 
Congress  to  it. 

"  That  Congress  has  power  to  regulate  the  currency  of  the 
country  can  hardly  admit  of  doubt,  and  that  a  judicious  measure 
to  prevent  the  deterioration  of  this  currency,  by  a  reasonable 
taxation  of  bank  circulation,  or  otherwise,  is  needed,  seems 
equally  clear.  Independently  of  this  general  consideration,  it 
would  be  unjust  to  the  people  at  large  to  exempt  banks  enjoy 
ing  the  special  privilege  of  circulation,  from  their  just  propor 
tion  of  the  public  burdens. 

"  In  order  to  raise  money  by  way  of  loans  most  easily  and 
cheaply,  it  is  clearly  necessary  to  give  every  possible  support 
to  the  public  credit.  To  that  end,  a  uniform  currency,  in 
which  taxes,  subscriptions,  loans,  and  all  other  ordinary  public 
dues  may  be  paid,  is  almost  if  not  quite  indispensable.  Such  a 
currency  can  be  furnished  by  banking  associations  authorized 
under  a  general  act  of  Congress,  as  suggested  in  my  message  at 
the  beginning  of  the  present  session.  The  securing  of  this 
circulation  by  the  pledge  of  the  United  States  bonds,  as  herein 


422  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

suggested,  would  still  further  facilitate  loans,  by  increasing  the 
present  and  causing  a  future  demand  for  such  bonds. 

"In  view  of  the  actual  financial  embarrassment  of  the 
government,  and  of  the  greater  embarrassment  sure  to  come  if 
the  necessary  means  of  relief  be  not  afforded,  I  feel  that  I 
should  not  perform  my  duty  by  a  simple  announcement  of  my 
approval  of  the  joint  resolution,  which  proposes  relief  only  by 
increasing  the  circulation,  without  expressing  my  earnest 
desire  that  measures,  such  in  substance  as  that  I  have  just 
referred  to,  may  receive  the  early  sanction  of  Congress.  By 
such  measures,  in  my  opinion,  will  payment  be  most  certainly 
secured,  not  only  to  the  army  and  navy,  but  to  all  honest 
creditors  of  the  government,  and  satisfactory  provision  made  for 
future  demands  on  the  Treasury." 

The  second  bill,  providing  a  national  currency,  secured 
by  a  pledge  of  United  States  stocks,  and  providing  for 
the  circulation  and  redemption  thereof,  was  passed, 
under  the  twofold  conviction  that  so  long  as  the  war 
continued,  the  country  must  have  a  large  supply  of 
paper  money,  and  that  it  was  also  particularly  desirable 
that  this  money  should  be  national  in  its  character,  and 
its  security  based  on  the  faith  of  the  government. 

Among  the  principal  transactions  of  this  session, 
aside  from  the  necessary  appropriations,  were — the  ad 
mission  of  the  new  State  of  West  Virginia,  by  an  act 
approved  December  31st,  1862  ;  the  organization  of  the 
new  Territories  of  Arizona  and  of  Idaho ;  the  passage 
of  a  stringent  act  to  prevent  and  punish  frauds  upon  the 
government ;  an  authorization  of  letters  of  marque  and 
reprisal ;  and  the  passage  of  an  act  providing  for  the 
collection  of  abandoned  property  in  insurrectionary  dis 
tricts.  Its  spirit  manifested  the  same  thorough  and 
fixed  determination  to  carry  on  the  war,  by  the  use  of 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.       423 

the  most  vigorous  and  effective  measures  for  the  sup 
pression  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  President  received 
from  it  the  same  full  and  prompt  support  which  he  had 
from  the  preceding  Congress. 

While  certain  members  of  the  opposition  had  assumed 
a  greater  boldness  of  hostility  to  the  administration, 
some  of  them  defiantly  avowing  their  desire  that  further 
resistance  to  armed  rebellion  should  cease ;  and  while 
some  of  the  administration  party,  even,  impatient  of 
the  delays  which  seemed  to  mark  the  progress  of  the 
war,  insisted  upon  bolder  measures — especially  towards 
the  institution  of  slavery — the  majority  of  the  members 
of  Congress,  as  well  as  the  great  body  of  the  people, 
manifested  an  unabated  confidence  in  the  patriotism 
and  sagacity  evinced  by  the  President  in  his  conduct 
of  public  affairs. 

This  was  still  more  clearly  demonstrated  during  tlie 
elections  which  followed,  shortly  after  the  adjournment 
of  Congress,  in  the  States  of  New  Hampshire,  Con 
necticut  and  Rhode  Island — in  which,  although  the 
opposition  spared  no  pains  to  procure  a  popular  verdict 
against  the  administration,  the  result  was  an  emphatic 
indorsement  of  President  Lincoln  and  his  policy.  It 
was  evident  that  a  healthy  reaction  was  taking  place 
in  the  public  mind,  and  that  the  critical  point  of  the 
political  position  was  successfully  passed. 

The  relations  of  the  government  with  European  na 
tions  during  the  year  1862,  were  on  the  whole  satisfac 
tory.  In  official  intercourse  with  these  foreign  powers, 
the  President  and  his  Secretary  of  State  uniformly  held 
firm  and  decided  language  in  regard  to  the  rebellion, 
and  the  relations  of  the  rebellious  States  to  the  National 


424  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Government ;  while  our  minister  in  London  persistently 
and  ably  labored  to  arouse  the  British  government  to 
its  duty  in  the  prevention  of  the  building  and  fitting- 
out  of  vessels  of  war  in  English  ports  to  be  used  by  the 
rebels  in  destroying  the  commerce  of  the  United  States. 
That  government,  however,  blinded  to  justice  by  the 
strength  of  its  prejudices,  proved  deaf  to  all  the  re 
monstrances  thus  urged  by  a  friendly  power. 

The  prominent  issue  before  the  people,  in  the  elec 
tions  this  year,  was  the  policy  of  the  administration  in 
regard  to  emancipation.  This  measure,  which  had 
already  proved  both  at  home  and  abroad  an  element  of 
great  and  increasing  strength  in  the  suppression  of  the 
rebellion,  also  commended  itself  to  the  world  as  being 
in  accordance  with  the  clearest  interests  of  civilization 
and  humanity.  A  gratifying  evidence  of  this  was  fur 
nished  by  the  testimonial  sent  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year,  from  the  workingmen  of  Man 
chester,  in  England ;  and  from  which  we  make  the 
following  extracts : 

"As  citizens  of  Manchester,  assembled  at  the  Free-Trade 
Hall,  we  beg  to  express  our  fraternal  sentiments  toward  you 
and  your  country.  We  rejoice  in  your  greatness  as  an  out 
growth  of  England,  whose  blood  and  language  you  share, 
whose  orderly  and  legal  freedom  you  have  applied  to  new  cir 
cumstances,  over  a  region  immeasurably  greater  than  our  own. 
We  honor  your  free  States,  as  a  singularly  happy  abode  for 
the  working  millions  where  industry  is  honored.  One  thing 
alone  has,  in  the  past,  lessened  our  sympathy  with  your  coun 
try,  and  our  confidence  in  it — we  mean  the  ascendency  of  poli 
ticians  who  not  merely  maintained  negro  slavery,  but  desired 
to  extend  and  root  it  more  firmly.  We  joyfully  honor  you,  as 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      425 

the  President,  and  the  Congress  with  you,  for  many  decisive 
steps  toward  practically  exemplifying  your  belief  in  the  words 
of  your  great  founders :  'All  men  are  created  free  and  equal.' 
You  have  procured  the  liberation  of  the  slaves  in  the  district 
around  Washington,  and  thereby  made  the  centre  of  your  fed 
eration  visibly  free.  You  have  enforced  the  laws  against  the 
slave-trade,  and  kept  up  your  fleet  against  it,  even  while  every 
ship  was  wanted  for  service  in  your  terrible  war.  You  have 
nobly  decided  to  receive  embassadors  from  the  negro  republics 
of  Hayti  and  Liberia,  thus  forever  renouncing  that  unworthy 
prejudice  which  refuses  the  rights  of  humanity  to  men  and 
women  on  account  of  their  color.  In  order  more  effectually  to 
stop  the  slave-trade,  you  have  made  with  our  Queen  a  treaty, 
which  your  Senate  has  ratified,  for  the  right  of  mutual  search. 
Your  Congress  has  decreed  freedom  as  the  law  forever  in  the 
vast  unoccupied  or  half-unsettled  Territories  which  are  directly 
subject  to  its  legislative  power.  It  has  offered  pecuniary  aid 
to  all  States  which  will  enact  emancipation  locally,  and  has 
forbidden  your  Generals  to  restore  fugitive  slaves  who  seek 
their  protection.  You  have  entreated  the  slave-masters  to 
accept  these  moderate  offers ;  and  after  long  and  patient  wait 
ing,  you,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  have  appointed 
to-morrow,  the  first  of  January,  1863,  as  the  day  of  uncon 
ditional  freedom  for  the  slaves  of  the  rebel  States.  We  implore 
you,  for  your  own  honor  and  welfare,  not  to  faint  in  your  provi 
dential  mission.  While  your  enthusiasm  is  aflame,  and  the 
tide  of  events  runs  high,  let  the  work  be  finished  effectually. 
Leave  no  root  of  bitterness  to  spring  up  and  work  fresh  misery 
to  your  children.  It  is  a  mighty  task,  indeed,  to  reorganize 
the  industry  not  only  of  four  millions  of  the  colored  race,  but 
of  five  millions  of  whites.  Nevertheless,  the  vast  progress  you 
have  made  in  the  short  space  of  twenty  months,  fill  us  with 
hope  that  every  stain  on  your  freedom  will  shortly  be  removed, 
and  that  the  erasure  of  that  foul  blot  upon  civilization  and 
Christianity — chattel  slavery — during  your  Presidency,  will 


426  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

cause  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to  be  honored  and  re 
vered  by  posterity." 

To  this  address  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  the  following  reply : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ") 
WASHINGTON,  January  19,  1863.  j 

"To  THE  WORKINGMEN  OF  MANCHESTER  : — I  have  the  honor 
to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  address  and  resolutions  which 
you  sent  me  on  the  eve  of  the  new  year. 

"When  I  came,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  through  a  free 
and  constitutional  election,  to  preside  in  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  the  country  was  found  at  the  verge  of  civil  war. 
Whatever  might  have  been  the  cause,  or  whosesoever  the  fault, 
one  duty,  paramount  to  all  others,  was  before  me,  namely,  to 
maintain  and  preserve  at  once  the  Constitution  and  the  integ 
rity  of  the  Federal  Eepublic.  A  conscientious  purpose  to 
perform  this  duty  is  the  key  to  all  the  measures  of  administra 
tion  which  have  been,  and  to  all  which  will  hereafter  be  pur 
sued.  Under  our  frame  of  government  and  my  official  oath,  I 
could  not  depart  from  this  purpose  if  I  would.  It  is  not  always 
in  the  power  of  governments  to  enlarge  or  restrict  the  scope 
of  moral  results  which  follow  the  policies  that  they  may  deem 
it  necessary,  for  the  public  safety,  from  time  to  time  to  adopt. 

"  I  have  understood  well  that  the  duty  of  self-preservation 
rests  solely  with  the  American  people.  But  I  have,  at  the  same 
time,  been  aware  that  the  favor  or  disfavor  of  foreign  nations 
might  have  a  material  influence  in  enlarging  and  prolonging 
the  struggle  with  disloyal  men  in  which  the  country  is  engaged. 
A  fair  examination  of  history  has  seemed  to  authorize  a  belief 
that  the  past  action  and  influences  of  the  United  States  were 
generally  regarded  as  having  been  beneficial  toward  mankind. 
I  have,  therefore,  reckoned  upon  the  forbearance  of  nations. 
Circumstances — to  some  of  which  you  kindly  allude — induced 
me  especially  to  expect  that,  if  justice  and  good  faith  should  be 
practiced  by  the  United  States,  they  would  encounter  no  hostile 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.     427 

influence  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  now  a  pleasant 
duty  to  acknowledge  the  demonstration  you  have  given  of  your 
desire  that  a  spirit  of  peace  and  amity  toward  this  country  may 
prevail  in  the  councils  of  your  Queen,  who  is  respected  and 
esteemed  in  your  own  country  only  more  than  she  is  by  the 
kindred  nation  which  has  its  home  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
"  I  know,  and  deeply  deplore,  the  sufferings  which  the  work- 
ingmen  at  Manchester,  and  in  all  Europe,  are  called  to  endure 
in  this  crisis.  It  has  been  often  and  studiously  represented 
that  the  attempt  to  overthrow  this  Government,  which  was 
built  upon  the  foundation  of  human  rights,  and  to  substitute 
for  it  one  which  should  rest  exclusively  on  the  basis  of  human 
slavery,  was  likely  to  obtain  the  favor  of  Europe.  Through 
the  action  of  our  disloyal  citizens,  the  workingmen  of  Europe 
have  been  subjected  to  severe  trial,  for  the  purpose  of  forcing 
their  sanction  to  that  attempt.  Under  these  circumstances,  I 
can  not  but  regard  your  decisive  utterances  upon  the  question 
as  an  instance  of  sublime  Christian  heroism,  which  has  not  been 
surpassed  in  any  age  or  in  any  country.  It  is  indeed  an  ener 
getic  and  reinspiring  assurance  of  the  inherent  power  of  truth, 
and  of  the  ultimate  and  universal  triumph  of  justice,  human 
ity  and  freedom.  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  sentiments  you  have 
expressed  will  be  sustained  by  your  great  nation ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  assuring  you  that  they  will 
excite  admiration,  esteem,  and  the  most  reciprocal  feelings  of 
friendship  among  the  American  people.  I  hail  this  inter 
change  of  sentiment,  therefore,  as  an  augury  that,  whatever 
else  may  happen,  whatever  misfortune  may  befall  your  country 
or  my  own,  the  peace  and  friendship  which  now  exists  between 
the  two  nations  will  be,  as  it  shall  be  my  desire  to  make  them, 
perpetual. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

Later  in  the  season  Mr.  Lincoln  was  invited  to  revisit 
his  home  in  Springfield,  on  the  occasion  of  a  mass  meet- 


428  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ing   of  the  Unconditional  Unionists  of  Illinois,  to   be 
held  at  that  place. 

Finding  it  impossible  to  accept  the  invitation,  he 
wrote  in  reply  the  following  letter,  in  which  several  of 
the  most  conspicuous  features  of  his  policy  are  clearly 
and  firmly  defended  against  the  censures  by  which  they 
had  been  assailed : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  August  26th,  1863. 
"  HON.  JAMES  C.  CONKLING  : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — Your  letter,  inviting  me  to  attend  a  mass 
meeting  of  unconditional  Union  men,  to  be  held  at  the  capital 
of  Illinois,  on  the  third  day  of  September,  has  been  received. 
It  would  be  very  agreeable  for  me  thus  to  meet  my  old  friends 
at  my  own  home ;  but  I  cannot  just  now  be  absent  from  here  so 
long  as  a  visit  there  would  require. 

"The  meeting  is  to  be  of  all  those  who  maintain  uncon 
ditional  devotion  to  the  Union ;  and  I  am  sure  that  my  old 
political  friends  will  thank  me  for  tendering,  as  I  do,  the 
nation's  gratitude  to  those  other  noble  men  whom  no  partisan 
malice  or  partisan  hope  can  make  false  to  the  nation's  life. 

"  There  are  those  who  are  dissatisfied  with  me.  To  such  I 
would  say,  you  desire  peace,  and  you  blame  me  that  we  do  not 
have  it.  But  how  can  we  attain  it  ?  There  are  but  three  con 
ceivable  ways:  First — to  suppress  the  rebellion  by  force  of 
arms.  This  I  am  trying  to  do.  Are  you  for  it  ?  If  you  are, 
so  far  we  are  agreed.  If  you  are  not  for  it,  a  second  way  is  to 
give  up  the  Union.  I  am  against  this.  Are  you  for  it  ?  If 
you  are,  you  should  say  so  plainly.  If  you  are  not  for  force, 
nor  yet  for  dissolution,  there  only  remains  some  imaginable 
compromise. 

"  I  do  not  believe  that  any  compromise  embracing  the  main 
tenance  of  the  Union  is  now  possible.  All  that  I  learn  leads 
to  a  directly  opposite  belief.  The  strength  of  the  rebellion  is 
its  military,  its  army.  That  army  dominates  all  the  country, 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  1863.     429 

and  all  the  people  within  its  range.  Any  offer  of  terms  'made 
by  any  man  or  men  within  that  range,  in  opposition  to  that 
army,  is  simply  nothing  for  the  present ;  because  such  man  or 
men  have  no  power  whatever  to  enforce  their  side  of  a  com 
promise,  if  one  were  made  with  them. 

"  To  illustrate :  Suppose  refugees  from  the  South  and  peace 
men  of  the  North  get  together  in  convention,  and  frame  and 
proclaim  a  compromise  embracing  restoration  of  the  Union. 
In  what  way  can  that  compromise  be  used  to  keep  Lee's  army 
out  of  Pennsylvania  ?  Meade's  army  can  keep  Lee's  army  out 
of  Pennsylvania,  and,  I  think,  can  ultimately  drive  it  out  of 
existence.  But  no  paper  compromise  to  which  the  controllers 
of  Lee's  army  are  not  agreed  can  at  all  affect  that  army. 
In  an  effort  at  such  compromise  we  would  waste  time,  which 
the  enemy  would  improve  to  our  disadvantage ;  and  that  would 
be  all. 

"A  compromise,  to  be  effective,  must  be  made  either  with 
those  who  control  the  rebel  army,  or  with  the  people,  first 
liberated  from  the  domination  of  that  army  by  the  success  of 
our  own  army.  Now,  allow  me  to  assure  you  that  no  word  or 
intimation  from  that  rebel  army,  or  from  any  of  the  men  con 
trolling  it,  in  relation  to  any  peace  compromise,  has  ever  come 
to  my  knowledge  or  belief.  All  charges  and  insinuations  to 
the  contrary  are  deceptive  and  groundless.  And  I  promise 
you  that  if  any  such  proposition  shall  hereafter  come,  it  shall 
not  be  rejected  and  kept  a  secret  from  you.  I  freely  acknowl 
edge  myself  to  be  the  servant  of  the  people,  according  to  the 
bond  of  service,  the  United  States  Constitution ;  and  that,  as 
such,  I  am  responsible  to  them. 

"  But,  to  be  plain.  You  are  dissatisfied  with  me  about  the 
negro.  Quite  likely  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  between 
you  and  myself  upon  that  subject.  I  certainly  wish  that  all 
men  could  be  free,  while  you,  I  suppose,  do  not.  Yet,  I  have 
neither  adopted  nor  proposed  any  measure  which  is  not  con 
sistent  with  even  your  view,  provided  that  you  are  for  the 


430  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Union.  I  suggested  compensated  emancipation ;  to  which  you 
replied  you  wished  not  to  be  taxed  to  buy  negroes.  But  I  had 
not  asked  you  to  be  taxed  to  buy  negroes,  except  in  such  a 
a  way  as  to  save  you  from  greater  taxation  to  save  the  Union 
exclusively  by  other  means. 

"You  dislike  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  perhaps 
would  have  it  retracted.  You  say  it  is  unconstitutional.  I 
think  differently.  I  think  the  Constitution  invests  its  Com 
mander-in-chief  with  the  law  of  war  in  time  of  war.  The  most 
that  can  be  said,  if  so  much,  is,  that  slaves  are  property.  Is 
there,  has  there  ever  been,  any  question  that  by  the  law  of 
war,  property,  both  of  enemies  and  friends,  may  be  taken 
when  needed?  And  is  it  not  needed  whenever  it  helps  us  and 
hurts  the  enemy  ?  Armies,  the  world  over,  destroy  enemies' 
property  when  they  cannot  use  it ;  and  even  destroy  their  own 
to  keep  it  from  the  enemy.  Civilized  belligerents  do  all  in 
their  power  to  help  themselves  or  hurt  the  enemy,  except  a 
few  things  regarded  as  barbarous  or  cruel.  Among  the  ex 
ceptions  are  the  massacre  of  vanquished  foes  and  non-com 
batants,  male  and  female. 

"But  the  proclamation,  as  law,  either  is  valid  or  is  not  valid. 
If  it  is  not  valid  it  needs  no  retraction.  If  it  is  valid  it  cannot 
be  retracted,  any  more  than  the  dead  can  be  brought  to  life. 
Some  of  you  profess  to  think  its  retraction  would  operate 
favorably  for  the  Union.  Why  better  after  the  retraction  than 
before  the  issue  ?  There  was  more  than  a  year  and  a  half  of 
trial  to  suppress  the  rebellion  before  the  proclamation  was 
issued,  the  last  one  hundred  days  of  which  passed  under  an 
explicit  notice  that  it  was  coming,  unless  averted  by  those  in 
revolt  returning  to  their  allegiance.  The  war  has  certainly 
progressed  as  favorably  for  us  since  the  issue  of  the  proclama 
tion  as  before. 

"  I  know  as  fully  as  one  can  know  the  opinions  of  others  that 
some  of  the  commanders  of  our  armies  in  the  field,  who  have 
given  us  our  most  important  victories,  believe  the  emancipa- 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  1863.     431 

tion  policy  and  the  use  of  colored  troops  constitute  the  heaviest 
blows  yet  dealt  to  the  rebellion,  and  that  at  least  one  of  those 
important  successes  could  not  have  been  achieved  when  it  was, 
but  for  the  aid  of  black  soldiers. 

"Among  the  commanders  who  hold  these  views  are  some  who 
have  never  had  any  affinity  with  what  is  called  'Abolitionism,' 
or  with  'Kepublican  party  politics,'  but  who  hold  them  purely 
as  military  opinions.  I  submit  their  opinions  as  entitled  to 
some  weight  against  the  objections  often  urged  that  emancipa 
tion  and  arming  the  blacks  are  unwise  as  military  measures, 
and  were  not  adopted  as  such  in  good  faith. 

"  You  say  that  you  will  not  fight  to  free  negroes.  Some  cf 
them  seem  willing  to  fight  for  you  ;  but  no  matter.  Fight  you, 
then,  exclusively,  to  save  the  Union.  I  issued  the  proclama 
tion  on  purpose  to  aid  you  in  saving  the  Union.  Whenever 
you  shall  have  conquered  all  resistance  to  the  Union,  if  I  shall 
urge  you  to  continue  fighting,  it  will  be  an  apt  time  then  for 
you  to  declare  you  will  not  fight  to  free  negroes.  I  thought 
that  in  your  struggle  for  the  Union,  to  whatever  extent  the 
negroes  should  cease  helping  the  enemy,  to  that  extent  it  weak 
ened  the  enemy  in  his  resistance  to  you.  Do  you  think  differ 
ently  ?  I  thought  that  whatever  negroes  can  be  got  to  do  as 
soldiers,  leaves  just  so  much  less  for  white  soldiers  to  do  in 
saving  the  Union.  Does  it  appear  otherwise  to  you?  But 
negroes,  like  other  people,  act  upon  motives.  Why  should 
they  do  anything  for  us  if  we  will  do  nothing  for  them  ?  If 
they  stake  their  lives  for  us  they  must  be  prompted  by  the 
strongest  motive,  even  the  promise  of  freedom.  And  the 
promise,  being  made,  must  be  kept. 

"  The  signs  look  better,  The  Father  of  Waters  again  goes 
unvexed  to  the  sea.  Thanks  to  the  great  Northwest  for  it ;  nor 
yet  wholly  to  them.  Three  hundred  miles  up  they  met  New 
England,  Empire,  Keystone,  and  Jersey,  hewing  their  way  right 
and  left.  The  sunny  South,  too,  in  more  colors  than  one,  also 
lent  a  helping  hand.  On  the  spot,  their  part  of  the  history  was 


432  THE   LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

jotted  down  in  black  and  white.  The  job  was  a  great  national 
one,  and  let  none  be  slighted  who  bore  an  honorable  part  in  it. 
And  while  those  who  have  cleared  the  great  river  may  well  be 
proud,  even  that  is  not  all.  It  is  hard  to  say  that  any  thing 
has  been  more  bravely  and  well  done  than  at  Antietam,  Mur- 
freesboro,  Gettysburg,  and  on  many  fields  of  less  note.  Nor 
must  Uncle  Sam's  web-feet  be  forgotten.  At  all  the  watery 
margins  they  have  been  present,  not  only  on  the  deep  sea,  the 
broad  bay,  and  the  rapid  river,  but  also  up  the  narrow,  muddy 
bayou,  and  wherever  the  ground  was  a  little  damp  they  have 
been  and  made  their  tracks.  Thanks  to  all.  For  the  great 
Eepublic — for  the  principle  it  lives  by  and  keeps  alive — for 
man's  vast  future — thanks  to  all. 

"  Peace  does  not  appear  so  distant  as  it  did.  I  hope  it  will 
come  soon  and  come  to  stay ;  and  so  come  as  to  be  worth  the 
keeping  in  all  future  time.  It  will  then  have  been  proved  that 
among  freemen  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  from  the 
ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  that  they  who  take  such  appeal  are 
sure  to  lose  their  case  and  pay  the  cost.  And  there  will  be 
some  black  men  who  can  remember  that,  with  silent  tongue,  and 
clenched  teeth,  and  steady  eye,  and  well-poised  bayonet,  they 
have  helped  mankind  on  to  this  great  consummation,  while  I 
fear  there  will  be  some  white  ones  unable  to  forget  that  with 
malignant  heart  and  deceitful  speech  they  have  striven  to 
hinder  it. 

"  Still,  let  us  not  be  over-sanguine  of  a  speedy,  final  triumph. 
Let  us  be  quite  sober.  Let  us  diligently  apply  the  means, 
never  doubting  that  a  just  God,  in  His  own  good  time,  will 
give  us  the  rightful  result. 

"Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN." 

The  decisive  advantages  gained  by  the  national  arms, 
having  substantially  closed  the  rebellion  in  Louisiana, 
Tennessee  and  Arkansas,  movements  were  immediately 
made  by  the  people  of  those  States,  to  secure  a  reorgan- 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.      433 

ization  under  local  loyal  governments;  and  a  natural 
desire  was  felt  to  know  what  was  the  President's  policy 
for  the  restoration  of  law  and  order  in  the  territories 
thus  reclaimed  from  rebel  rule.  This  important  question 
had  already  claimed'  Mr.  Lincoln's  most  earnest  atten 
tion — and  he  had  been,  by  Act  of  Congress,  July  17th? 
1862,  fully  authorized  to  extend,  by  act  of  proclama 
tion,  pardon  and  amnesty  to  any  persons  who  had  par 
ticipated  in  the  rebellion,  with  such  exceptions  and  con 
ditions  as  he  might  deem  expedient  for  the  public 
welfare.  In  his  judgment,  the  fitting  time  had  now 
arrived  for  the  exercise  of  the  power  thus  freely  vested 
in  him.  He  therefore  issued,  simultaneously  with  his 
annual  message,  the  following 

PROCLAMATION. 

"  WHEREAS,  In  and  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  it  is  provided  that  the  President  '  shall  have"  power 
to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences  against,  the  United 
States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment;'  and  WHERTEAS,  a 
rebellion  now  exists  whereby  the  loyal  State  governments  of 
several  States  have  for  a  long  time  been  subverted,  and  many 
persons  have  committed  and  are  now  guilty  of  treason  against 
the  United  States ;  and  WHEREAS,  with  reference  to  said  rebel 
lion  and  treason,  laws  have  been  enacted  by  Congress  declaring 
forfeitures  and  confiscation  of  property  and  liberation  of 
slaves,  all  upon  terms  and  conditions  therein  stated ;  and  also 
declaring  that  the  President  was  thereby  authorized  at  any  time 
thereafter,  by  proclamation,  to  extend  to  persons  who  may 
have  participated  in  the  existing  rebellion,  in  any  State  or  part 
thereof,  parclon  and  amnesty,  with  such  exceptions  and  at  such 
times  and  on  such  conditions,  as  he  may  deem  expedient 
for  the  public  welfare;  and  WHEREAS,  the  Congressional 
declaration  for  limited  and  conditional  pardon  accords  with 
28 


434  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

well-established  judicial  exposition  of  the  pardoning  power, 
and  WHEKEAS,  with  reference  to  said  rebellion,  the  President  of 
the  United  States  has  issued  several  proclamations,  with  pro 
visions  in  regard  to  the  liberation  of  slaves ;  and  WHEREAS,  it 
is  now  desired  by  some  persons  heretofore  engaged  in  said 
rebellion,  to  resume  their  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and 
to  reinaugurate  loyal  State  governments  within  and  for  their 
respective  States ;  therefore 

"I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  do 
proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known  to  all  persons  who  have, 
directly  or  by  implication,  participated  in  the  existing  rebellion, 
except  as  hereinafter  excepted,  that  a  full  pardon  is  hereby 
granted  to  them  and  each  of  them,  with  restoration  of  all 
rights  of  property,  except  as  to  slaves,  and  in  property  cases 
where  rights  of  third  parties  shall  have  intervened,  and  upon 
the  condition  that  every  such  person  shall  take  and  subscribe 
an  oath,  and  thenceforward  keep  and  maintain  said  oath  in 
violate;  and  which  oath  shall  be  registered  for  permanent 
preservation,  and  shall  be  of  the  tenor  and  effect  following,  to 
wit: 

"I, ,  do  solemnly  swear,  in  presence  of  Almighty 

God,  that  I  will  henceforth  faithfully  support,  protect  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Union  of 
the  States  thereunder ;  and  that  I  will,  in  like  manner,  abide 
by  and  faithfully  support  all  acts  of  Congress  passed  during 
the  existing  rebellion  with  reference  to  slaves,  so  long  and  so 
far  as  not  repealed,  modified,  or  held  void  by  Congress,  or  by 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court;  and  that  I  will,  in  like  manner, 
abide  by  and  faithfully  support  all  proclamations  of  the  Presi 
dent  made  during  the  existing  rebellion  having  reference 
to  slaves,  so  long  and  so  far  as  not  modified  or  declared  void  by 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.  So  help  me  God. 

"  The  persons  excepted  from  the  benefits  of  the  foregoing 
provisions  are  all  who  are,  or  shall  have  been,  civil  or  diplomatic 
officers  or  agents  of  the  so-called  Confederate  Government ;  all 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.     435 

who  have  left  judicial  stations  under  the  United  States  to  aid 
the  rebellion ;  all  who  are,  or  shall  have  been,  military  or  naval 
officers  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  Government,  above 
the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  army,  or  of  lieutenant  in  the  navy; 
all  who  have  left  seats  in  the  United  States  Congress  to  aid  the 
rebellion;  all  who  resigned  commissions  in  the  Army  or  Navy 
of  the  United  States,  and  afterwards  aided  the  rebellion ;  and 
all  who  have  engaged  in  any  way  in  treating  colored  persons, 
or  white  persons  in  charge  of  such,  otherwise  than  lawfully  as 
prisoners  of  war,  and  which  persons  may  have  been  found  in 
the  United  States  service  as  soldiers,  seamen,  or  in  any  other 
capacity. 

"  And  I  do  further  proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known,  that 
whenever,  in  any  of  the  States  of  Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida,  South  Car 
olina,  and  North  Carolina,  a  number  of  persons,  not  less  than 
one  tenth  in  number  of  the  votes  cast  in  such  States  at  the 
Presidential  election  of  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1860,  each  hav 
ing  taken  the  oath  aforesaid,  and  not  having  since  violated  it, 
and  being  a  qualified  voter  by  the  election  law  of  the  State 
existing  immediately  before  the  so-called  act  of  secession,  and 
excluding  all  others,  shall  re-establish  a  State  government 
which  shall  be  republican,  and  in  no  wise  contravening  said 
oath,  such  shall  be  recognized  as  the  true  government  of  the 
State,  and  the  State  shall  receive  thereunder  the  benefits  of  the 
constitutional  provision  which  declares  that  '  the  United  States 
shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form 
of  government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  inva 
sion  ;  and  on  application  of  the  Legislature,  or  the  Executive, 
(when  the  Legislature  can  not  be  convened,)  against  domestic 
violence.' 

"  And  I  do  further  proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known  that 
any  provision  which  may  be  adopted  by  such  State  govern 
ment  in  relation  to  the  freed  people  of  such  State,  which  shall 
recognize  and  declare  their  permanent  freedom,  provide  for 


436  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN". 

their  education,  and  which  may  yet  be  consistent,  as  a  tempo 
rary  arrangement,  with  their  present  condition  as  a  laboring, 
landless,  and  homeless  class,  will  not  be  objected  to  by  the  Na 
tional  Executive.  And  it  is  suggested  as  not  improper,  that, 
in  constructing  a  loyal  State  government  in  any  State,  the 
name  of  the  State,  the  boundary,  the  subdivisions,  the  Consti 
tution,  and  the  general  code  of  laws,  as  before  the  rebellion,  be 
maintained,  subject  only  to  the  modifications  made  necessary 
by  the  conditions  hereinbefore  stated,  and  such  others,  if  any, 
not  contravening  said  conditions,  and  which  may  be  deemed 
expedient  by  those  framing  the  new  State  government. 

"  To  avoid  misunderstanding,  it  may  be  proper  to  say  that 
this  proclamation,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  State  governments  has 
no  reference  to  States  wherein  loyal  State  governments  have  all 
the  while  been  maintained.  And  for  the  same  reason,  it  may 
be  proper  to  further  say  that  whether  members  sent  to  Con 
gress  from  any  State  shall  be  admitted  to  seats  constitutionally, 
rests  exclusively  with  the  respective  Houses,  and  not  to  any 
extent  with  the  Executive.  And  still  further,  that  this  procla 
mation  is  intended  to  present  the  people  of  the  States  wherein 
the  national  authority  has  been  suspended,  and  loyal  State 
governments  have  been  subverted,  a  mode  in  and  by  which  the 
national  authority  and  loyal  State  governments  may  be  re-es 
tablished  within  said  States,  or  in  any  of  them ;  and,  while  the 
mode  presented  is  the  best  the  Executive  can  suggest,  with  his 
present  impressions,  it  must  not  be  understood  that  no  other 
possible  mode  would  be  acceptable. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  at  the   city  of  Washington,  the  8th 

day  of  December,  A.  D.  1863,  and  of  the   Indepen- 

[L.  s.]  dence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty -eighth. 

ABKAHAM  LINCOLN." 

The  victories  of  the  Union  arms  during  the  summer 
of  1863,  with  all  their  important  train  of  influences  at 
home  and  abroad,  had  produced  a  vigorous  and  healthy 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.     437 

condition  of  the  public  sentiment  of  the  country.  It  is 
true,  indeed,  that  there  was  still  considerable  partizan 
opposition  to  the  acts  of  the  administration,  which  in 
some  quarters  even  took  the  form  of  open  hostility  to 
the  further  prosecution  of  the  war  ;  but,  the  people  were 
"  full  of  pluck,"  and  the  Union  party  entered  the  polit 
ical  contests  of  the  autumn  of  1863  with  confident  cour 
age.  The  canvass  which  ensued  was  earnest  on  both 
sides,  but  every  .State  in  which  elections  were  held,  ex 
cept  only  New  Jersey,  cast  its  influence  in  support  of 
the  National  Government ;  while,  in  the  larger  States, 
the  majorities  were  so  large  as  to  make  the  result  of 
more  than  ordinary  significance.  Ohio  repudiated  Val- 
landigham,  who  had  been  nominated  for  Governor  solely 
on  account  of  the  issue  he  had  made  with  the  Govern 
ment  in  the  matter  of  his  arrest,  by  a  majority  of 
nearly  one  hundred  thousand.  New  York,  disgraced 
by  the  drafi>riots,  and  with  a  strong  administration  Gov 
ernor  elected  only  the  year  before,  gave  the  administra 
tion  a  majority  of  near  thirty  thousand,  while  Pennsyl 
vania  re-elected  her  sturdy  patriotic  Governor,  in  the  face 
of  strong  opposition,  by  about  the  same  majority. 

The  result  was,  therefore,  justly  claimed  as  a  decided 
verdict  of  the  people,  in  support  of  the  government,  and 
its  effect  upon  all  parties  was  of  marked  importance. 
While  it  strengthened  the  hands  of  the  administration, 
it  also  developed  a  division  of  sentiment  in  the  ranks  of 
the  opposition. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  annual  message  was  sent  in  to  Con 
gress  on  the  9th  day  of  December.  This  document — 
omitting  only  portions  of  less  abiding  interest — is  as 
follows : 


438  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

"  FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  KEP- 
RESENTATIVES  :  Another  year  of  health  and  sufficiently  abun 
dant  harvests,  has  passed.  For  these,  and  especially  for  the 
improved  condition  of  our  national  affairs,  our  renewed  and 
profoundest  gratitude  to  God  is  due, 

"  We  remain  in  peace  and  friendship  with  foreign  powers. 

"  The  efforts  of  disloyal  citizens  of  the  United  States  to 
involve  us  in  foreign  wars,  to  aid  an  inexcusable  insurrection, 
have  been  unavailing.  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government, 
as  was  justly  expected,  have  exercised  their  authority  to 
prevent  the  departure  of  new  hostile  expeditions  from  British 
ports.  The  Emperor  of  France  has,  by  a  like  proceeding, 
promptly  vindicated  the  neutrality  which  he  proclaimed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  contest.  Questions  of  great  intricacy  and 
importance  have  arisen,  out  of  the  blockade  and  other  bel 
ligerent  operations,  between  the  government  and  several  of  the 
maritime  powers,  but  they  have  been  discussed,  and  as  far  as 
was  possible,  accommodated  in  a  spirit  of  frankness,  justice, 
and  mutual  good  will.  It  is  especially  gratifying  that  our  prize 
courts,  by  the  impartiality  of  their  adjudications,  have  com 
manded  the  respect  and  confidence  of  maritime  powers. 

"The  supplemental  treaty  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  for  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave  trade, 
made  on  the  17th  day  of  February  last,  has  been  duly  ratified, 
and  carried  into  execution.  It  is  believed  that,  so  far  as 
American  ports  and  American  citizens  are  concerned,  that 
inhuman  and  odious  traffic  has  been  brought  to  an  end.  .  .  . 

"  Incidents  occurring  in  the  progress  of  our  civil  war  have 
forced  upon  my  attention  the  uncertain  state  of  international 
questions  touching  the  rights  of  foreigners  in  this  country  and 
of  United  States  citizens  abroad.  In  regard  to  some  govern 
ments,  these  rights  are  at  least  partially  defined  by  treaties.  In 
no  instance,  however,  is  it  expressly  stipulated  that,  in  the 
event  of  civil  war,  a  foreigner  residing  in  this  country,  within 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      439 

the  lines  of  the  insurgents,  is  to  be  exempted  from  the  rule 
which  classes  him  as  a  belligerent,  in  whose  behalf  the  govern 
ment  of  his  country  cannot  expect  any  privileges  or  immuni 
ties  distinct  from  that  character.  I  regret  to  say,  however, 
that  such  claims  have  been  put  forward,  and,  in  some  instances, 
in  behalf  of  foreigners  who  have  lived  in  the  United  States  the 
greater  part  of  their  lives. 

"  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  persons  born  in 
foreign  countries,  who  have  delared  their  intention  to  become 
citizens,  or  who  have  been  fully  naturalized,  have  evaded 
the  military  duty  required  of  them  by  denying  the  fact, 
and  thereby  throwing  upon  the  government  the  burden  of 
proof.  It  has  been  found  difficult  or  impracticable  to  obtain 
this  proof,  from  the  want  of  guides  to  the  proper  sources  of 
information.  These  might  be  supplied  by  requiring  clerks  of 
courts,  where  declarations  of  intention  may  be  made,  or 
naturalizations  effected,  to  send  periodically,  lists  of  the  names 
of  the  persons  naturalized,  or  declaring  their  intention  to 
become  citizens,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  whose 
department  those  names  might  be  arranged  and  printed  for 
general  information. 

"  There  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  foreigners  frequently 
become  citizens  of  the  United  States  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
evading  duties  imposed  by  the  laws  of  their  native  countries 
to  which,  on  becoming  naturalized  here,  they  at  once  repair, 
and  though  never  returning  to  the  United  States,  they  still 
claim  the  interposition  of  this  government  as  citizens.  Many 
altercations  and  great  prejudices  have  heretofore  arisen  out  of 
this  abuse.  It  is,  therefore,  submitted  to  your  serious  con 
sideration.  It  might  be  advisable  to  fix  a  limit,  beyond  which 
no  citizen  of  the  United  States  residing  abroad  may  claim  the 
interposition  of  his  government. 

"  The  right  of  suffrage  has  often  been  assumed  and  exercised 
by  aliens,  under  pretences  of  naturalization,  which  they  have 
disavowed  when  drafted  into  the  military  service.  I  submit 


440  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  expediency  of  such  an  amendment  of  the  law  as  will  make 
the  fact  of  voting  an  estoppel  against  any  plea  of  exemption 
from  military  service,  or  other  civil  obligation,  on  the  ground 

of  alienage 

"  The  condition  of  the  several  organized  territories  is  gener 
ally  satisfactory,  although  Indian  disturbances  in  New  Mexico 
have  not  been  entirely  suppressed.     The  mineral  resources  of 
Colorado,  Nevada,  Idaho,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  are  proving 
far  richer  than  has  been  heretofore  understood.    I  lay  before  you 
a  communication  on  this  subject,  from  the  Governor  of  New 
Mexico.     I  again  submit  to  your  consideration  the  expediency 
of  establishing  a  system  for  the  encouragement  of  immigration. 
Although  this  source  of  national  wealth  and  strength  is  again 
flowing  with  greater  freedom  than  for  several  years  before  the 
insurrection  occurred,  there  is  still  a  great  deficiency  of  laborers 
in   every  field  of  industry,  especially  in  agriculture   and   in 
our  mines,  as  well  of  iron  and  coal  as  of  the  precious  metals. 
While  the  demand  for  labor  is  thus  increased  here,  tens  of 
thousands  of  persons,  destitute  of  remunerative  occupation,  are 
thronging   our   foreign   consulates,  and   offering   to  emigrate 
to  the  United  States  if  essential,  but  very  cheap,  assistance  can 
be   afforded   them.     It  is  easy  to  see   that,  under   the   sharp 
discipline  of  civil  war,  the  nation  is  beginning  a  new  life.     This 
noble  effort  demands  the  aid,  and  ought  to  receive  the  attention 
and  support,  of  the  government. 

"Injuries,  unforeseen  by  the  government,  and  unintended, 
may,  in  some  cases,  have  been  inflicted  on  the  subjects  or 
citizens  of  foreign  countries,  both  at  sea  and  on  land,  by 
persons  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  As  this  govern 
ment  expects  redress  from  other  powers  when  similar  injuries 
are  inflicted  by  persons  in  their  service  upon  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  we  must  be  prepared  to  do  justice  to  foreigners. 
If  the  existing  judicial  tribunals  are  inadequate  to  this  purpose, 
a  special  court  may  be  authorized,  with  power  to  hear  and 
decide  such  claims  of  the  character  referred  to  as  may  have 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS  OF   1863.       441 

arisen  under  treaties  and  the  public  law.  Conventions  for 
adjusting  the  claims  by  joint  commission  have  been  proposed 
to  some  governments,  but  no  definite  answer  to  the  proposition 
has  yet  been  received  from  any. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  session,  I  shall  probably  have  occasion 
to  request  you  to  provide  indemnification  to  claimants  where 
decrees  of  restitution  have  been  rendered  and  damages  awarded 
by  admiralty  courts,  and  in  other  cases,  where  this  government 
may  be  acknowledged  to  be  liable  in  principle,  and  where 
the  amount  of  that  liability  has  been  ascertained  by  an  informal 
arbitration 

"  The  operations  of  the  Treasury  during  the  last  year  have 
been  successfully  conducted.  The  enactment  by  Congress  of  a 
National  Banking  Law  has  proved  a  valuable  support  of  the 
public  credit ;  and  the  general  legislation  in  relation  to  loans 
has  fully  answered  the  expectations  of  its  favorers.  Some 
amendments  may  be  required  to  perfect  existing  laws  ;  but  no 
change  in  their  principles  or  general  scope  is  believed  to 
be  needed. 

"  Since  these  measures  have  been  in  operation,  all  demands 
on  the  Treasury,  including  the  pay  of  the  army  and  navy,  have 
been  promptly  met  and  fully  satisfied.  No  considerable  body 
of  troops,  it  is  believed,  were  ever  more  amply  provided,  and 
more  liberally  and  punctually  paid ;  and  it  may  be  added  that 
by  no  people  were  the  burdens  incident  to  a  great  war  ever 
more  cheerfully  borne. 

"  The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  is  a  document  of  great 
interest.  It  consists  of — 

"1.  The  military  operations  of  the  year,  detailed  in  the 
report  of  the  General-in-Chief. 

"2.  The  organization  of  colored  persons  into  the  war  service. 

"3.  The  exchange  of  prisoners,  fully  set  forth  in  the  letter 
of  General  Hitchcock. 

"4.  The  operations  under  the  act  for  enrolling  and  calling 
out  the  national  forces,  detailed  in  the  report  of  the  Provost 
Marshal  General. 


442  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"  5.  The  organization  of  the  invalid  corps  ;  and 

"  6.  The  operation  of  the  several  departments  of  the  Quarter 
master-General,  Commissary-General,  Paymaster-General,  Chief 
of  Engineers,  Chief  of  Ordnance,  and  Surgeon-General. 

"  It  has  appeared  impossible  to  make  a  valuable  summary 
of  this  report,  except  such  as  would  be  too  extended  for  this 
place,  and  hence  I  content  myself  by  asking  your  careful  atten 
tion  to  the  report  itself. 

"  The  duties  devolving  on  the  naval  branch  of  the  service 
during  the  year,  and  throughout  the  whole  of  this  unhappy 
contest,  have  been  discharged  with  fidelity  and  eminent  success. 
The  extensive  blockade  has  been  constantly  increasing  in 
efficiency,  and  the  navy  has  expanded ;  yet  on  so  long  a  line 
it  has  so  far  been  impossible  to  entirely  suppress  illicit  trade. 
From  returns  received  at  the  Navy  Department,  it  appears  that 
more  than  one  thousand  vessels  have  been  captured  since  the 
blockade  was  instituted,  and  that  the  value  of  prizes  already 
sent  in  for  adjudication,  amounts  to  over  thirteen  million  dollars. 

"  The  naval  force  of  the  United  States  consists,  at  this  time, 
of  five  hundred  and  eighty-eight  vessels,  completed  and  in  the 
course  of  completion,  and  of  these  seventy-five  are  iron-clad  or 
armored  steamers.  The  events  of  the  war  give  an  increased 
interest  and  importance  to  the  navy,  which  will  probably  extend 
beyond  the  war  itself. 

"  The  armored  vessels  in  our  navy,  completed  and  in  service, 
or  which  are  under  contract  and  approaching  completion,  are 
believed  to  exceed  in  number  those  of  any  other  power.  But 
while  these  may  be  relied  upon  for  harbor  defence  and  coast 
service,  others,  of  greater  strength  and  capacity,  will  be  neces 
sary  for  cruising  purposes,  and  to  maintain  our  rightful  position 
on  the  ocean. 

"  The  change  that  has  taken  place  in  naval  vessels  and  naval 
warfare  since  the  introduction  of  steam  as  a  motive  power  for 
ships-of-war,  demands  either  a  corresponding  change  in  some 
of  our  existing  navy-yards,  or  the  establishment  of  new  ones, 


THE   POLITICAL  AND   MILITARY  EVENTS  OF   1863.        443 

for  the  construction  and  necessary  repair  of  modern  naval 
vessels.  No  inconsiderable  embarrassment,  delay,  and  public 
injury  have  been  experienced  from  the  want  of  such  govern 
mental  establishments.  The  necessity  of  such  a  navy-yard,  so 
furnished,  at  some  suitable  place  upon  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
has,  on  repeated  occasions,  been  brought  to  the  attention  of 
Congress  by  the  Navy  Department,  and  is  again  presented  in 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  which  accompanies  this  communica 
tion.  I  think  it  my  duty  to  invite  your  special  attention  to 
this  subject,  and  also  to  that  of  establishing  a  yard  and  depot 
for  naval  purposes  upon  one  of  the  Western  rivers.  A  naval 
force  has  been  created  on  those  interior  waters,  and  under 
many  disadvantages,  within  little  more  than  two  years,  exceed 
ing  in  numbers  the  whole  naval  force  of  the  country  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  present  administration.  Satisfactory  and 
important  as  have  been  the  performances  of  the  heroic  men  of 
the  navy  at  this  interesting  period,  they  are  scarcely  more 
wonderful  than  the  success  of  our  mechanics  and  artisans  in  the 
production  of  war  vessels,  which  has  created  a  new  form  of 
naval  power. 

"Our  country  has  advantages  superior  to  any  other  nation  in 
our  resources  of  iron  and  timber,  with  inexhaustible  quantities 
of  fuel  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  both,  and  all  available  and 
in  close  proximity  to  navigable  waters.  Without  the  advan 
tage  of  public  works,  the  resources  of  the  nation  have  been 
developed,  and  its  power  displayed,  in  the  construction  of  a 
navy  of  such  magnitude,  which  has,  at  the  very  period  of  its 
creation,  rendered  signal  service  to  the  Union. 

"  The  increase  of  the  number  of  seamen  in  the  public  service, 
from  seven  thousand  five  hundred  men  in  the  spring  of  1861, 
to  about  thirty-four  thousand  at  the  present  time,  has  been 
accomplished  without  special  legislation  or  extraordinary  boun 
ties  to  promote  that  increase.  It  has  been  found,  however,  that 
the  operation  of  the  draft,  with  the  high  bounties  paid  for  army 
recruits,  is  beginning  to  affect  injuriously  the  naval  service, 


441  THE    LITE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

and  will,  if  not  corrected,  be  likely  to  impair  its  efficiency,  by 
detaching  seamen  from  their  proper  vocation  and  inducing 
them  to  enter  the  army.  I  therefore  respectfully  suggest  that 
Congress  might  aid  both  the  army  and  naval  service  by  a 
definite  provision  on  this  subject,  which  would  at  the  same  time 
be  equitable  to  the  communities  more  especially  interested. 

"  I  commend  to  your  consideration  the  suggestions  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  regard  to  the  policy  of  fostering  and 
training  seamen,  and  also  the  education  of  officers  and  engineers 
for  the  naval  service.  The  Naval  Academy  is  rendering  signal 
service  in  preparing  midshipmen  for  the  highly  responsible  duties 
which  in  after-life  they  will  be  required  to  perform.  In  order 
that  the  country  should  not  be  deprived  of  the  proper  quota  of 
educated  officers  for  which  legal  provision  has  been  made  at  the 
Naval  School,  the  vacancies  caused  by  the  neglect  or  omission 
to  make  nominations  from  the  States  in  insurrection  have  been 
filled  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  The  school  is  now  more 
full  and  complete  than  at  any  former  period,  and  in  every 
respect  entitled  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  Congress. 

"  The  measures  provided  at  your  last  session  for  the  removal 
of  certain  Indian  tribes,  have  been  carried  into  effect.  Sundry 
treaties  have  been  negotiated  which  will,  in  due  time,  be  sub 
mitted  for  the  constitutional  action  of  the  Senate.  They  con 
tain  stipulations  for  extinguishing  the  possessory  rights  of  the 
Indians  to  large  and  valuable  tracts  of  lands.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  effects  of  these  treaties  will  result  in  the  establishment  of 
permanent  friendly  relations  with  such  of  these  tribes  as  have 
been  brought  into  frequent  and  bloody  collision  with  our  out 
lying  settlements  and  emigrants.  Sound  policy  and  our  impera 
tive  duty  to  these  wards  of  the  government  demand  our  anxious 
and  constant  attention  to  their  material  well-being,  to  their  pro 
gress  in  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  above  all,  to  that  moral 
training  which,  under  the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence,  will 
confer  upon  them  the  elevated  and  sanctifying  influences,  the 
hopes  and  consolations  of  the  Christian  faith 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  1863.     445 

"  When  Congress  assembled  a  year  ago,  the  war  had  already 
lasted  nearly  twenty  months ;  and  there  had  been  many  con 
flicts  on  both  land  and  sea,  with  varying  results.  The  rebel 
lion  had  been  pressed  back  into  redueed  limits ;  yet  the  tone 
of  public  feeling  at  home  and  abroad,  was  not  satisfactory. 
With  other  signs,  the  popular  elections,  then  just  past,  indicated 
uneasiness  among  ourselves,  while  amid  much  that  was  cold 
and  menacing,  the  kindest  words  coming  from  Europe  were 
uttered  in  accents  of  pity  that  we  were  too  blind  to  surrender 
a  hopeless  cause.  Our  commerce  was  suffering  greatly  by  a 
few  armed  vessels  built  upon  and  furnished  from  foreign  shores ; 
and  we  were  threatened  with  such  additions  from  the  same 
quarter  as  would  sweep  our  trade  from  the  sea  and  raise  our 
blockade.  We  had  failed  to  elicit  from  European  governments 
anything  hopeful  upon  this  subject.  The  preliminary  Emanci 
pation  Proclamation,  issued  in  September,  was  running  its 
assigned  period  to  the  beginning  of  the  new  year.  A  month 
later  the  final  proclamation  came,  including  the  announcement 
that  colored  men  of  suitable  condition  would  be  received  into 
the  war  service.  The  policy  of  emancipation,  and  of  employing 
black  soldiers,  gave  to  the  future  a  new  aspect,  about  which 
hope  and  fear  and  doubt  contended  in  uncertain  conflicts. 
According  to  our  political  system,  as  a  matter  of  civil  adminis 
tration,  the  general  government  had  no  lawful  power  to  effect 
emancipation  in  any  State ;  and  for  a  long  time  it  had  been 
hoped  that  the  rebellion  could  be  suppressed  without  resorting 
to  it  as  a  military  measure.  It  was  all  the  while  deemed  possi 
ble  that  the  necessity  for  it  might  come,  and  that,  if  it  should, 
the  crisis  of  the  contest  would  then  be  presented.  It  came,  and 
as  was  anticipated,  it  was  followed  by  dark  and  doubtful  days. 
Eleven  months  having  now  passed,  we  are  permitted  to  take 
another  review.  The  rebel  borders  are  pressed  still  further 
back,  and  by  the  complete  opening  of  the  Mississippi  the 
country  dominated  by  the  rebellion  is  divided  into  distinct 
parts,  with  no  practical  communication  between  them.  Tea- 


446  THE   LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

nessee  and  Arkansas  have  been  substantially  cleared  of  insnr- 
surgent  control,  and  influential  citizens  in  each,  owners  of 
slaves  and  advocates  of  slavery  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebel 
lion,  now  declare  openly  for  emancipation  in  their  respective 
States.  Of  those  States  not  included  in  the  Emancipation  Pro 
clamation,  Maryland  and  Missouri,  neither  of  which,  three  years 
ago,  would  tolerate  any  restraint  upon  the  extension  of  slavery 
into  new  Territories,  only  dispute  now  as  to  the  best  mode  of 
removing  it  within  their  own  limits. 

"  Of  those  who  were  slaves  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion, 
full  one  hundred  thousand  are  now  in  the  United  States  mili 
tary  service,  about  one-half  of  which  number  actually  bear  arms 
in  the  ranks ;  thus  giving  the  double  advantage  of  taking  so 
much  labor  from  the  insurgent  cause,  and  supplying  the  places 
which  otherwise  must  be  filled  with  so  many  white  men.  So 
far  as  tested,  it  is  difficult  to  say  they  are  not  as  good  soldiers 
as  any.  No  servile  insurrection,  or  tendency  to  violence  or 
cruelty,  has  marked  the  measures  of  emancipation  and  arming 
the  blacks.  These  measures  have  been  much  discussed  in  for 
eign  countries,  and  contemporary  with  such  discussion  the  tone 
of  public  sentiment  there  is  much  improved.  At  home  the 
same  measures  have  been  fully  discussed,  supported,  criticised, 
and  denounced,  and  the  annual  elections  following  are  highly 
encouraging  to  those  whose  official  duty  it  is  to  bear  the  coun 
try  through  this  great  trial.  Thus  we  have  the  new  reckoning. 
The  crisis  which  threatened  to  divide  the  friends  of  the  Union 
is  past. 

"  Looking  now  to  the  present  and  future,  and  with  reference 
to  a  resumption  of  the  national  authority  within  the  States 
wherein  that  authority  has  been  suspended,  I  have  thought  fit 
to  issue  a  proclamation,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  trans 
mitted.  On  examination  of  this  proclamation  it  will  appear,  as 
is  believed,  that  nothing  is  attempted  beyond  what  is  amply 
justified  by  the  Constitution.  True,  the  form  of  an  oath  is 
given,  but  no  man  is  coerced  to  take  it.  The  man  is  only 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      447 

promised  a  pardon  in  case  he  voluntarily  takes  the  oath.  The 
Constitution  authorizes  the  Executive  to  grant  or  withhold  the 
pardon  at  his  own  absolute  discretion ;  and  this  includes  the 
power  to  grant  on  terms,  as  is  fully  established  by  judicial  and 
other  authorities. 

"  It  is  also  proffered  that  if,  in  any  of  the  States  named,  a  State 
government  shall  be,  in  the  mode  prescribed,  set  up,  such  gov 
ernment  shall  be  recognized  and  guaranteed  by  the  United 
States,  and  that  under  it  the  State  shall,  on  the  constitutional 
conditions,  be  protected  against  invasion  and  domestic  violence. 
The  constitutional  obligation  of  the  United  States  to  guarantee 
to  every  State  in  the  Union  a  republican  form  of  government, 
and  to  protect  the  State,  in  the  cases  stated,  is  explicit  and  full. 
But  why  tender  the  benefits  of  this  provision  only  to  a  State 
government  set  up  in  this  particular  way  ?  This  section  of 
the  Constitution  contemplates  a  case  wherein  the  element 
within  a  State  favorable  to  republican  government,  in  the  Union, 
may  be  too  feeble  for  an  opposite  and  hostile  element  external 
to  or  even  within  the  State ;  and  such  are  precisely  the  cases 
with  which  we  are  now  dealing. 

"  An  attempt  to  guarantee  and  protect  a  revived  State  Gov 
ernment,  constructed  in  whole,  or  in  preponderating  part,  from 
the  very  element  against  whose  hostility  and  violence  it  is  to  be 
protected,  is  simply  absurd.  There  must  be  a  test  by  which 
to  separate  the  opposing  element,  so  as  to  build  only  from  the 
sound ;  and  that  test  is  a  sufficiently  liberal  one,  which  accepts 
as  sound  whoever  will  make  a  sworn  recantation  of  his  former 
unsoundness. 

"  But  if  it  be  proper  to  require,  as  a  test  of  admission  to  the 
political  body,  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  the  Union  under  it,  why  not  also  to  the  laws 
and  proclamations  in  regard  to  slavery  ?  Those  laws  and  pro 
clamations  were  enacted  and  put  forth  for  the  purpose  of  aid 
ing  in  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  To  give  them  their 
fullest  effect,  there  had  to  be  a  pledge  for  their  maintenance. 


448  THE   LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

In  my  judgment  they  have  aided,  and  will  further  aid,  the 
cause  for  which  they  are  intended,  To  now  abandon  them 
would  be  not  only  to  relinquish  a  lever  of  power,  but  would 
also  be  a  cruel  and  an  astonishing  breach  of  faith.  I  MAY  ADD 

AT  THIS  POINT  THAT,  WHILE  I  REMAIN  IN  MY  PRESENT  POSI 
TION,  I  SHALL  NOT  ATTEMPT  TO  RETRACT  OR  MODIFY  THE 

EMANCIPATION   PROCLAMATION  ;   NOR  SHALL   I   RETURN  TO 

SLAVERY  ANY  PERSON  WHO  IS  FREE  BY  THE  TERMS  OF  THAT 
PROCLAMATION,  OR  BY  ANY  OF  THE  ACTS  OF  CONGRESS.  For 

these  and  other  reasons,  it  is  thought  best  that  support  of  these 
measures  shall  be  included  in  the  oath  ;  and  it  is  believed  the 
Executive  may  lawfully  claim  it  in  return  for  pardon  and  res 
toration  of  forfeited  rights,  which  he  has  clear  constitutional 
power  to  withhold  altogether,  or  grant  upon  the  terms  which 
he  shall  deem  wisest  for  the  public  interest.  It  should  be  ob 
served,  also,  that  this  part  of  the  oath  is  subject  to  the  modify 
ing  and  abrogating  power  of  legislation  and  supreme  judicial 
decision. 

"  The  proposed  acquiescence  of  the  national  Executive  in  any 
reasonable  temporary  State  arrangement  for  the  freed  people, 
is  made  with  the  view  of  possibly  modifying  the  confusion  and 
destitution  which  must,  at  best,  attend  all  classes  by  a  total 
revolution  of  labor  throughout  whole  States.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  already  deeply  afflicted  people  in  those  States  may  be  some 
what  more  ready  to  give  up  the  cause  of  their  affliction,  if,  to 
this  extent,  this  vital  matter  be  left  to  themselves ;  while  no 
power  of  the  national  Executive  to  prevent  an  abuse,  is  abridged 
by  the  proposition. 

"  The  suggestion  in  the  proclamation  as  to  maintaining  the 
political  framework  of  the  States  on  what  is  called  reconstruc 
tion,  is  made  in  the  hope  that  it  may  do  good  without  danger 
of  harm.  It  will  save  labor,  and  avoid  great  confusion. 

"But  why  any  proclamation  now  upon  this  subject?  This 
question  is  beset  with  the  conflicting  views  that  the  step  might 
be  delayed  too  long  or  be  taken  too  soon.  In  some  States  the 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.      449 

elements  for  resumption  seem  ready  for  action,  but  remain 
inactive,  apparently  for  want  of  a  rallying  point — a  plan  of 
action.  Why  shall  A  adopt  the  plan  of  B,  rather  than  B  that 
of  A?  And  if  A  and  B  should  agree,  how  can  they  know  but 
that  the  general  government  here  will  reject  their  plan  ?  By 
the  proclamation,  a  plan  is  presented  which  may  be  accepted  by 
them  as  a  rallying  point,  and  which  they  are  assured  in  ad 
vance  will  not  be  rejected  here.  This  may  bring  them  to  act 
sooner  than  they  otherwise  would. 

"  The  objection  to  a  premature  presentation  of  a  plan  by  the 
national  Executive  consists  in  the  danger  of  committals  on 
points  which  could  be  more  safely  left  to  further  developments. 
Care  has  been  taken  to  so  shape  the  document  as  to  avoid  em 
barrassments  from  this  source.  Saying  that,  on  certain  terms, 
certain  classes  will  be  pardoned,  with  rights  restored,  it  is  not 
said  that  other  classes  or  other  terms  will  never  be  included. 
Saying  that  reconstruction  will  be  accepted,  if  presented  in  a 
specified  way,  it  is  not  said  it  will  never  be  accepted  in  any 
other  way. 

"  The  movements,  by  State  action,  for  emancipation  in  several 
of  the  States,  not  included  in  the  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
are  matters  of  profound  gratulation.  And  while  I  do  not 
repeat  in  detail  what  I  have  heretofore  so  earnestly  urged  upoa 
this  subject,  my  general  views  and  feelings  remain  unchanged  • 
and  I  trust  that  Congress  will  omit  no  fair  opportunity  of  aid' 
ing  these  important  steps  to  a  great  consummation. 

"In  the  midst  of  other  cares,  however  important,  we  must 
not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  war  power  is  still  our  main 
reliance.  To  that  power  alone  can  we  look,  yet  for  a  time,  to 
give  confidence  to  the  people  in  the  contested  regions  that  the 
insurgent  power  will  not  again  overrun  them.  Until  that 
confidence  shall  be  established,  little  can  be  done  anywhere  for 
what  is  called  reconstruction.  Hence  our  chiefest  care  must 
still  be  directed  to  the  army  and  navy,  who  have  thus  far  borne- 
their  harder  part  so  nobly  and  well.  And  it  may  be  esteemed! 
29 


450  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

fortunate  that  in  giving  the  greatest  efficiency  to  these  indis 
pensable  arms,  we  do  also  honorably  recognize  the  gallant 
men;  from  commander  to  sentinel,  who  compose  them,  and  to 
whom,  more  than  to  others,  the  world  must  stand  indebted  for 
the  home  of  freedom  disenthralled,  regenerated,  enlarged,  and 
perpetuated. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
"Dec.  8th,  1863." 

During  this  session,  the  President  found  in  Congress  a 
ready  co-operation  in  all  measures  for  the  prosecution 
of  the  war.  A  system  of  direct  taxation,  affording  a 
firm  basis  for  all  government  securities,  and  insuring 
against  financial  disaster,  as  well  as  enactments 
required  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  to  meet  all  pressing  demands  upon 
the  national  exchequer,  received  the  proper  attention. 
A  desire  to  further  the  energetic  exertions  of  the  Gov 
ernment  in  preparing  for  the  last  grand  struggle  with 
rebellion  was  manifested  in  the  action  of  both  Houses 
in  so  marked  a  degree  as  to  inspire  the  country  with 
confidence  in  a  speedy  and  favorable  issue  of  the  war. 

The  deliberations  of  Congress  during  the  session 
possessed  but  little  special  interest  or  importance ; 
the  emergencies  and  requirements  of  the  war,  present 
and  prospective,  having  been  very  fully  provided  for  by 
its  action  at  the  previous  session.  Amendments  were 
offered  to  the  Conscription  Bill,  which,  as  finally  passed, 
did  not  vary  essentially  from  the  original  law.  It 
gave  rise,  however,  to  considerable  discussion  as  to 
the  proper  regulation  of  the  mode  of  enlistment  of  col 
ored  men,  free  and  slave,  as  soldiers.  Both  Houses 
finally  agreed  upon  a  proviso  that  colored  troops,  "  while 


THE  POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.        451 

they  shall  be  credited  in  the  quotas  of  the  several 
States,  or  subdivisons  of  States,  wherein  they  are  respec 
tively  drafted,  enlisted  or  shall  volunteer,  shall  not  be  as 
signed  as  State  troops,  but  shall  be  mustered  into  regi 
ments  or  companies  as  6  United  States  Colored  Volun 
teers.'  "  A  growing  conviction  in  the  public  mind,  that  thv. 
destruction  of  slavery  was  necessary  to  the  successful  pros 
ecution  of  the  war,  and  that  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves 
would  be  the  certain  result  of  the  war,  was  clearly  in 
dicated  in  the  debates  of  Congress,  as  well  as  by  the  tone 
of  the  press.  Early  in  February,  a  bill  was  reported  in 
the  House  providing  for  the  establishment  of  a  Bureau  of 
Ereedmen's  Affairs,  which  should  determine  all  questions 
relating  to  persons  of  African  descent,  and  regulating  their 
employment  and  proper  treatment  on  abandoned  planta 
tions  ; — which,  after  a  sharp  debate  was  passed  by  a 
vote  of  sixty-nine  to  sixty-seven.  A  resolution  was  also 
adopted  submitting  to  the  action  of  the  several  States  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
forever  prohibiting  the  existence  of  slavery  within  the 
States  and  Territories  of  the  Union — and  was  passed 
with  but  little  opposition. 

The  argument  of  some  of  the  border  State  Senators, 
that  the  interference  of  the  people  in  any  thing  which 
State  laws  declare  to  be  property,  was  a  palpable  viola 
tion  of  State  rights,  was  promptly  met  by  the  Hon. 
Reverdy  Johnson,  of  Maryland,  who  held  that  the 
Constitution,  when  it  was  framed,  might  properly  and 
unquestionably  have  embodied  within  it  this  prohi 
bition  of  slavery,  and  that  it  was  competent  for  the 
people  to  do  now  whatever  they  might  have  done  then. 

The  payment  of  government  bounties  to  volunteer 


452  THE    LIFE    OF   ALE  AH  AM    LINCOLN. 

troops ;  questions  connected  with  taxation  and  currency, 
and  other  necessary  matters,  which  do  not  call  for  de 
tailed  mention  in  this  work,  occupied  the  attention  of 
Congress,  during  the  session.  Considerable  acrimonious 
debate  arose  from  the  controversy  between  General  F. 
P.  Blair,  Jr.,  and  other  members  of  the  Missouri  dele 
gation,  in  regard  to  his  contested  seat  in  Congress,  which 
demanded  much  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  patient  consideration, 
and  called  forth  several  letters  from  his  hand. 

The  relations  of  the  country  with  foreign  affairs  con 
tinued  as  satisfactory,  on  the  whole,  as  could  be  ex 
pected.  An  important  point  was  gained,  in  the  issuing 
of  an  order  by  the  British  government,  forbidding  the 
departure  of  the  formidable  rams  which  were  building 
in  English  ports  unquestionably  for  the  rebel  navy. 
Regarding  this  as  practically  giving  to  the  rebels  the 
freedom  of  British  ports  for  the  destruction  of  American 
commerce,  our  government  sternly  protested  against 
such  one-sided  neutrality. 

"It  would  be  superfluous  in  me,"  wrote  our  Minister,  Mr. 
Adams,  "to  point  out  to  your  lordship  that  this  is  war.  No 
matter  what  may  be  the  theory  adopted  of  neutrality  in  a 
struggle,  when  this  process  is  carried  on  in  the  manner  indi 
cated,  from  a  territory  and  with  the  aid  of  the  subjects  of 
a  third  party,  that  third  party  to  all  intents  and  purposes  ceases 
to  be  neutral.  Neither  is  it  necessary  to  show  that  any  govern 
ment  which  suffers  it  to  be  done,  fails  in  enforcing  the  essential 
conditions  of  international  amity  towards  the  country  against 
whom  the  hostility  is  directed.  In  rny  belief  it  is  impossible 
that  any  nation,  retaining  a  proper  degree  of  self-respect,  could 
tamely  submit  to  a  continuance  of  relations  so  utterly  deficient 
in  reciprocity.  I  have  no  idea  that  Great  Britain  would  do  so 
for  a  moment." 


THE    POLITICAL    AND    MILITARY    EVENTS   OF    1863.      453 

The  remonstrance  had  the  desired  effect. 

Our  relations  with  France,  also,  continued  to  be 
friendly,  but  the  proceedings  of  the  French  in  Mexico 
gave  color  to  the  rumors  which  were  freely  circulated, 
that  they  were  about  to  establish  in  that  country,  a 
monarchical  form  of  government,  under  a  European 
prince.  The  attitude  of  our  government  towards  such 
a  movement  was,  therefore,  distinctly  defined  by  Mr. 
Seward  in  his  correspondence  with  our  Minister .  at 
Paris,  under  date  of  September  26th,  as  follows : 

"The  United  States  hold,  in  regard  to  Mexico,  the  same 
principles  as  they  hold  in  regard  to  all  other  nations.  They 
have  neither  a  right  nor  a  disposition  to  intervene  by  force  in 
the  internal  affairs  of  Mexico,  whether  to  establish  and  main 
tain  a  republic,  or  even  a  domestic  government,  there,  or  to 
overthrow  an  imperial  or  a  foreign  one,  if  Mexico  chooses  to 
establish  or  accept  it.  The  United  States  have  neither  the 
right  nor  the  disposition  to  intervene  by  force  on  either  side  in 
the  lamentable  war  which  is  going  on  between  France  and 
Mexico.  On  the  contrary,  they  practise  in  regard  to  Mexico, 
in  every  phrase  of  that  war,  the  non-intervention  which  they 
require  all  foreign  powers  to  observe  in  regard  to  the  United 
States.  But  notwithstanding  this  self-restraint,  this  govern 
ment  knows  full  well  that  the  inherent  normal  opinion  of 
Mexico  favors  a  government  there  republican  in  form  and 
domestic  in  its  organization,  in  preference  to  any  monarchical 
institutions  to  be  imposed  from  abroad.  This  government 
knows  also  that  this  normal  opinion  of  the  people  of  Mexico 
resulted  largely  from  the  influence  of  popular  opinion  in 
this  country,  and  is  continual!}^  invigorated  by  it.  The 
President  believes,  moreover,  that  this  popular  opinion  of  the 
United  States  is  just  in  itself  and  eminently  essential  to  the 
progress  of  civilization  on  the  American  continent,  which 
civilization,  it  believes,  can  and  will,  if  left  free  from  European 


454  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

resistance,  work  harmoniously  together  with  advancing  refine 
ment  on  the  other  continents.  This  government  believes  that 
foreign  resistance,  or  attempts  to  control  American  civilization, 
must  and  will  fail  before  the  ceaseless  and  ever  increasing 
activity  of  material,  moral  and  political  forces,  which  peculiarly 
belong  to  the  American  continent.  Nor  do  the  United  States 
deny  that,  in  their  opinion,  their  own  safety  and  the  cheerful 
destiny  to  which  they  aspire,  are  intimately  dependent  on  the 
continuance  of  free  republican  institutions  throughout  America. 
They  have  submitted  these  opinions  to  the  Ernperor  of  France, 
on  proper  occasions,  as  worthy  of  his  serious  consideration, 
in  determining  how  he  would  conduct  and  close  what  might 
prove  a  successful  war  in  Mexico.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  prac 
tice  reserve  upon  the  point  that  if  France  should,  upon  due 
consideration,  determine  to  adopt  a  policy  in  Mexico  adverse 
to  the  American  opinion  and  sentiments  which  I  have  de 
scribed,  that  policy  would  probably  scatter  seeds  which  would 
be  fruitful  of  jealousies  which  might  ultimately  ripen  into 
collision  between  France  and  the  United  States  and  other 
American  republics." 

On  the  23d  of  October,  Mr.  Seward  repeated  the 
determination  of  our  government  to  maintain  complete 
neutrality  in  the  war  between  France  and  Mexico,  and 
while  declaring  that  we  could  not  anticipate  the  action 
of  the  people  of  Mexico,  we  had  not  "the  least  purpose 
or  desire  to  interfere  with  their  proceedings,  or  control 
or  interfere  with  their  free  choice,  or  disturb  them  in 
the  exercise  of  whatever  institutions  of  government 
they  may,  in  the  exercise  of  an  absolute  freedom, 
establish."  As  we  did  not  consider  the  war  yet  closed, 
however,  we  were  not  free  to  consider  the  recognition 
of  the  government  which,  in  the  further  chances  of  that 
war,  might  take  the  place  of  the  one  now  existing  in 


THE   POLITICAL   AXD    MILITARY  EVENTS   OF    1863.       455 

Mexico,  and  with  which  our  relations  were  those  of 
peace  and  friendship. 

The  policy  of  the  President,  therefore,  in  regard  to 
the  war  in  Mexico,  was  that  of  neutrality;  and  the 
settled  sentiment  of  the  people  upon  the  subject  was 
embodied,  beyond  all  doubt,  in  the  following  resolution, 
passed  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  3d  of 
April,  1864. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  are  un 
willing  by  silence  to  leave  the  nations  of  the  world  under  the 
impression  that  they  are  indifferent  spectators  of  the  deplorable 
events  now  transpiring  in  the  republic  of  Mexico ;  therefore, 
they  think  fit  to  declare  that  it  does  not  accord  with  the  senti 
ment  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  acknowledge  a 
monarchical  government  erected  on  the  ruins  of  any  republican 
government  in  America,  under  the  auspices  of  any  European 
power." 

Having  thus  traced  the  political  events  of  the  year 
1863,  let  us  briefly  glance  at  the  military  movements 
during  the  same  period. 

The  first  two  years  of  the  war  had  resulted,  on  the 
whole,  in  decided  advantages  to  the  national  arms. 
Commencing  their  "  Confederacy"  with  seven  States,  the 
conspirators  against  the  national  life  had  undertaken, 
by  intrigue  as  well  as  by  force  of  arms,  to  detach  the 
remaining  slaveholding  States — the  Indian  Territory, 
New  Mexico,  and  Arizona — from  their  allegiance  to  the 
government,  and  to  add  this  immense  region  to  the  new 
southern  nationality.  General  Canby's  vigorous  cam 
paign  in  New  Mexico,  with  the  victory  at  Fort  Craig, 
in  1862,  drove  the  invaders  back  into  Texas;  and 
General  Curtis'  grand  success  at  Pea  Ridge,  Arkansas,  in 


456  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

March  of  the  same  year,  effectually  demolished  all  hopes 
of  any  rebel  acquisition  in  the  Territories.  The  most 
determined  efforts  of  rebellion  to  extend  their  boundary 
beyond  the  four  slave  States  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
Tennessee,  and  Arkansas,  which  had  been  swept  into 
the  secession  movement  at  the  very  onset,  proved  abor 
tive. 

But,  in  spite  of  these  efforts,  the  spring  of  1863  found 
Arkansas  substantially  reclaimed ;  New  Orleans,  and  a 
large  portion  of  Louisiana  restored  to  the  government ; 
the  Mississippi  river  reconquered  through  almost  its 
entire  length ;  most  of  the  western  and  middle  parts  of 
Tennessee  occupied  by  Federal  garrisons ;  the  western 
half  of  Virginia  reorganized  under  a  loyal  government, 
and  much  of  eastern  Virginia  in  the  grasp  of  the  Union 
arms;  a  permanent  foothold  gained  on  the  coasts  of 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Florida;  northern 
Alabama  returning  to  sentiments  of  loyalty,  under  the 
supporting  presence  of  government  troops ;  a  blockade, 
pressing  heavily  upon  the  rebellious  States;  and  the 
power  of  slavery  materially  crippled  by  the  effects  of 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  which  deranged  thg 
productive  interests  of  the  rebellion,  and  added  a  new 
and  increasing  element  of  strength  to  our  arms. 

Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson  were  now  positions  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  the  rebels,  who  were  straining 
every  nerve  to  hold  their  trans-Mississippi  communica 
tions,  inasmuch  as  the  Red  river  country  and  Texas 
furnished  their  most  abundant  supplies.  To  sweep  from 
their  grasp  even  this  last  vestige  of  power  in  that  re 
gion,  became  the  object  of  General  Grant's  brief  but 
energetic  campaign ;  wh'ch,  commencing  with  a  series  of 


THE    POLITICAL    AND   MILITARY   EVENTS    OF    1863.     457 

brilliant  victories,  terminated  in  the  surrender  of  Vicks- 
burg  and  thirty  thousand  prisoners,  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1863.  On  the  eighth,  as  a  consequence  partly  of  this 
success,  Port  Hudson,  after  a  two  months'  siege,  was 
also  unconditionally  surrendered,  with  its  garrison  of 
over  six  thousand  men,  to  the  combined  forces  of 
General  Banks  and  Admiral  Farragut ;  and  the  "  Father 
of  Waters"  was  once  more  open  to  the  Gulf — thus  cut 
ting  off  the  territory  west  of  that  river  from  its  con 
nection  with  the  remainder  of  the  Confederacy,  being  a 
practical  loss  of  nearly  one-half  of  the  rebel  territory. 

In  Eastern  Virginia,  the  year  1863  had  opened 
on  the  20th  of  January  by  an  attempted  advance  on 
the  rebel  army  at  Fredericksburg,  by  the  army 
under  General  Burnside — which,  however,  failed,  in 
consequence  of  a  heavy  storm  so  damaging  the  roads 
as  to  render  it  impossible  to  bring  up  artillery  and 
pontoons  with  the  promptness  essential  to  success.  On 
the  twenty-fourth,  General  Burnside  was  relieved  from 
the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  General 
Joseph  Hooker  appointed  in  his  place.  The  season 
forbade  any  movement  for  three  months,  but  on  the 
27th  of  April,  General  Hooker  pushed  his  army  forward 
with  the  design  of  attacking  the  enemy  in  flank  and 
rear.  The  movement  seemed  to  be  a  success  until  they 
reached  Chancellorsville,  a  few  miles  southwest  of 
Fredericksburg,  where,  on  the  2d  of  May,  they  met  the 
enemy,  and,  after  an  action  which  continued  with  vary 
ing  success  for  three  days,  Hooker  was  compelled,  on 
the  5th,  to  withdraw  his  army  to  the  north  bank  of  the 
Eappahannock — having  lost  not  far  from  eighteen  thou 
sand  men  in  the  movement.  The  rebel  loss  was  also 


458  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

large,  and  in  the  death,  of  General  "  Stonewall"  Jackson 
their  cause  sustained  a  severe  blow.  The  rebel  General 
Lee  now  assumed  the  offensive,  advancing  through 
Maryland  into  Pennsylvania.  This  movement  natu 
rally  created  the  most  intense  excitement  throughout 
the  country,  and  President  Lincoln  issued  a  proclama 
tion  calling  for  one  hundred  thousand  militia  from  the 
States  most  directly  menaced,  to  serve  for  six  months, 
and  New  York  was  summoned  to  send  twenty  thousand 
also. 

General  Hooker,  however,  moving  on  an  interior  line, 
covered  Washington,  and  kept  his  forces  in  an  attitude 
to  strike  the  enemy  with  effect.  During  these  move 
ments,  Hooker  was  superseded,  on  the  28th  of  June, 
by  General  George  G.  Meade,  who  at  once  ordered  an 
advance  into  Pennsylvania  in  the  general  direction  of 
Harrisburg,  towards  which  the  enemy  was  rapidly  ad 
vancing.  The  two  armies  came  in  contact  on  the 
1st  of  July,  near  the  town  of  Gettysburg,  and  a  three 
days'  conflict  ensued,  in  which  an  important  victory  was 
gained  over  Lee,  who  retreated  in  all  possible  haste 
over  the  Potomac,  having  lost  heavily  in  killed, 
wounded  and  prisoners — the  latter  numbering  thirteen 
thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-one. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  July,  the  day  cele 
brated  throughout  the  country  as  the  anniversary  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  President  issued 
the  following  despatch : 

"  WASHINGTON,  July  4—10.30,  A.  M. 

"  The  President  announces  to  the  country,  that  news  from 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  to  ten  P.  M.  of  the  third,  is  such 
as  to  cover  that  army  with  the  highest  honor ;  to  promise  a 


THE    POLITICAL   AND    MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      459 

great  success  to  the  cause  of  the  Union ;  and  to  claim  the  con 
dolence  of  all  for  the  many  gallant  fallen — and  that,  for  this, 
he  especially  desires  that  on  this  day,  He,  whose  will,  not  ours, 
should  ever  be  done,  be  everywhere  remembered,  and  reve 
renced  with  profoundest  gratitude. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN"." 

The  result  of  this  severe  battle  was  of  the  utmost 
importance,  inasmuch  as  it  defeated  the  intended  in 
vasion  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  and  compelled 
the  rebels  to  evacuate  the  upper  part  of  the  valley  of 
the  Shenandoah,  leaving  in  our  hands  nearly  fourteen 
thousand  prisoners,  and  twenty-five  thousand  small 
arms  collected  on  the  battle-field.  Our  own  losses  were 
very  severe,  amounting  to  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  thirty-four  killed,  thirteen  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  nine  wounded,  and  six  thousand  six  hundred  and 
forty-three  missing — in  all,  twenty-three  thousand  one 
hundred  and  eighty-six. 

During  the  ensuing  season,  a  plot  of  ground  adjoining 
the  town  cemetery,  and  forming  an  important  part  of 
the  battle-field,  was  purchased  by  the  State  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  to  be  used  as  a  national  burial-place  for  the  loyal 
soldiers  who  fell  in  that  great  engagement.  It  was 
dedicated,  with  solemn  and  impressive  ceremonies,  on 
the  19th  of  November,  1863,  the  President  and  the  mem 
bers  of  his  cabinet  being  in  attendance ;  and  a  very  large 
and  imposing  military  display  added  a  solemn  grandeur 
to  the  ceremonies  of  the  day.  Hon.  Edward  Everett 
delivered  an  elaborate  address,  and  President  Lincoln 
made  the  following  remarks  : 

"  Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
upon  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and 


460  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 
Now,  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that 
nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long 
endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We 
have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field  as  the  final  rest 
ing-place  of  those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation 
might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should 
do  this. 

"  But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  can  not  dedicate,  we  can  not  con 
secrate,  we  can  not  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above  our 
power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long 
remember,  what  we  say  here  ;  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they 
did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to 
the  unfinished  work  that  they  have  thus  far  so  nobly  carried  on. 
It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  re 
maining  before  us — that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take 
increased  devotion  to  the  cause  for  which  they  here  gave  the 
last  full  measure  of  devotion — that  we  here  highly  resolve  that 
the  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain — that  the  nation  shall, 
under  God,  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom — and  that  the  govern 
ment  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall  not 
perish  from  the  earth. 

The  almost  simultaneous  occurrence  of  the  great  vic 
tories  of  Vicksburg,  Port  Hudson  and  Gettysburg — 
undoubtedly  constituting  the1  most  glorious  and  sub- 
substantial  celebration  ever  before  accorded  to  our 
national  holiday — called  forth  the  most  enthusiastic 
rejoicings  in  every  section  of  the  country.  Public 
meetings  were  everywhere  held,  and  the  people,  as 
with  one  voice,  testified  their  joy,  and  their  unflinch 
ing  purpose  to  prosecute  the  war  until  the  rebellion 
should  be  utterly  extinguished. 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.       4G1 

A  large  concourse  of  the  citizens  of  Washington 
visited  the  residence  of  the  President,  and,  also,  those 

of  the  members  of  his  Cabinet — giving  them  qach,  in 

/    •  •" 
turn,   the  honors  of  a  serenade — which  the  President 

acknowledged  in  the  following  remarks  : 

"  FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  I  am  very  glad  indeed  to  see  you  to 
night,  and  yet  I  will  not  say  I  thank  you,  for  this  call ;  but  I 
do  most  sincerely  thank  Almighty  God  for  the  occasion  on 
which  you  have  called.  How  long  ago  is  it — eighty  odd  years — 
since,  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
the  world,  a  nation,  by  its  representatives,  assembled  and  de 
clared  as  a  self-evident  truth,  "  that  all  men  are  created  equal  ?" 
That  was  the  birthday  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Since 
then  the  Fourth  of  July  has  had  several  very  peculiar  recogni 
tions.  The  two  men  most  distinguished  in  the  framing  and 
support  of  the  Declaration  were  THOMAS  JEFFERSOX  and  JOHN 
ADAMS — the  one  having  penned  it,  and  the  other  sustained  it 
the  most  forcibly  in  debate — the  only  two  of  the  fifty -five  who 
signed  it,  and  were  elected  Presidents  of  the  United  States. 
Precisely  fifty  years  after  they  put  their  hands  to  the  paper,  it 
pleased  almighty  God  to  take  both  from  this  stage  of  action. 
This  was,  indeed,  an  extraordinary  and  remarkable  event  in 
our  history.  Another  President,  five  years  after,  was  called 
from  this  stage  of  existence  on  the  same  day  and  month  of  the 
year ;  and  now  on  this  last  Fourth  of  July,  just  passed,  when 
we  have  a  gigantic  rebellion,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  an 
effort  to  overthrow  the  principle  that  all  men  were  created 
equal,  we  have  the  surrender  of  a  most  powerful  position  and 
army  on  that  yery  day.  And  not  only  so,  but  in  a  succession 
of  battles  in  Pennsylvania,  near  to  us,  through  three  days,  so 
rapidly  fought  that  they  might  be  called  one  great  battle,  on 
the  first,  second,  and  third  $>f  the  month  of  July ;  and  on  the 
fourth,  the  cohorts  of  those  who  opposed  the  declaration  that  all 
men  are  created  equal,  'turned  tail'  and  run.  [Long-continued 


462  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

cheers.]  Gentlemen,  this  is  a  glorious  theme,  and  the  occasion 
for  a  speech,  but  I  am  not  prepared  to  make  one  worthy  of  the 
occasion.  I  would  like  to  speak  in  terms  of  praise  due  to  the 
many  brave  officers  and  soldiers,  who  have  fought  in  the  cause 
of  the  Union  and  liberties  of  their  country  from  the  beginning 
of  the  war.  These  are  trying  occasions,  not  only  in  success, 
but  for  the  want  of  success.  I  dislike  to  mention  the  name 
of  one  single  officer,  lest  I  might  do  wrong  to  those  T  might 
forget.  Kecent  events  bring  up  glorious  names,  and  particu 
larly  prominent  ones ;  but  these  I  will  not  mention.  Having 
said  this  much,  I  will  now  take  the  music." 

The  President,  a  few  days  afterwards,  wrote  to  Gen 
eral  Grant  the  following  letter,  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln's 
character  for  honesty  and  candor  is  agreeably  displayed 
in  the  modest  and  unconscious  garb  of  his  own  language : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  July  13,  1863. 
"  MAJOR-GENERAL  GRANT — My  Dear  General :  I  do  not  re 
member  that  you  and  I  ever  met  personally.  I  write  this  now 
as  a  grateful  acknowledgment  for  the  almost  inestimable  service 
you  have  done  the  country.  I  write  to  say  a  word  further. 
When  you  first  reached  the  vicinity  of  Yicksburg,  I  thought 
you  should  do  what  you  finally  did — march  the  troops  across 
the  neck,  run  the  batteries  with  the  transports,  and  thus  go 
below ;  and  I  never  had  any  faith,  except  a  general  hope  that 
you  knew  better  than  I,  that  the  Yazoo  Pass  expedition,  and 
the  like,  could  succeed.  When  you  got  below,  and  took  Port 
Gibson,  Grand  Gulf,  and  vicinity,  I  thought  you  should  go 
down  the  river  and  join  General  Banks ;  and  when  you  turned 
northward,  east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  feared  it  was  a  mistake.  I 
now  wish  to  make  the  personal  acknowledgment,  that  you  were 
right  and  I  was  wrong.  Y^urs  truly, 

"A.  LINCOLN." 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EYEXTS   OF   1863.     4  6  a? 

These  victories,  together  with  others,  achieved  in 
other  sections  of  the  country,  gave  such  strong  grounds 
of  encouragement  and  hope  for  the  speedy  overthrow  of 
the  rebellion,  that,  on  the  15th  of  July,  the  President 
issued  the  following  Proclamation  for  a  day  of  national 
thanksgiving,  praise  and  prayer : 

"By  ike  President  of  ike  United  States  of  America. 

"A    PROCLAMATION. 

"It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  hearken  to  the  supplica 
tions  and  prayers  of  an  afflicted  people,  and  to  vouchsafe  to  the 
army  and  the  navy  of  the  United  States,  on  the  land  and  on 
the  sea,  victories  so  signal  and  so  effective  as  to  furnish  reason 
able  grounds  for  augmented  confidence  that  the  Union  of  these 
States  will  be  maintained,  their  Constitution  preserved,  and 
their  peace  and  prosperity  permanently  secured.  But  these 
victories  have  been  accorded  not  without  sacrifice  of  life,  limb, 
and  liberty,  incurred  by  brave,  patriotic,  and  loyal  citizens. 
Domestic  affliction,  in  every  part  of  the  country,  follows  in  the 
train  of  these  fearful  bereavements.  It  is  meet  and  right  to 
recognize  and  confess  the  presence  of  the  Almighty  Father, 
and  the  power  of  His  hand  equally  in  these  triumphs  and  these 
sorrows. 

"  Now,  therefore,  be  it  known,  that  I  do  set  apart  Thursday, 
the  sixth  day  of  August  next,  to  be  observed  as  a  day  for 
national  thanksgiving,  praise,  and  prayer;  and  I  invite  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  assemble  on  that  occasion 
in  their  customary  places  of  worship,  and,  in  the  form  approved 
by  their  own  conscience,  render  the  homage  due  to  the  Divine 
Majesty,  for  the  wonderful  things  he  has  done  in  the  nation's 
behalf,  and  invoke  the  influence  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  to  subdue 
the  anger  which  has  produced,  and  so  long  sustained,  a  need 
less  and  cruel  rebellion  ;  to  change  the  hearts  of  the  insurgents ; 
to  guide  the  counsels  of  the*  government  with  wisdom  adequate 


464  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

to  so  great  a  national  emergency,  and  to  visit  with  tender  care 
and  consolation,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our 
land,  all  those  who,  through  the  vicissitudes  of  marches, 
voyages,  battles,  and  sieges,  have  been  brought  to  suffer  in 
mind,  body,  or  estate ;  and  finally,  to  lead  the  whole  nation 
through  paths  of  repentance  and  submission  to  the  Divine 
will,  back  to  the  perfect  enjoyment  of  union  and  fraternal 
peace. 

"In  witness  whereof,  I  have    hereunto    set    my  hand,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at    the  city  of   Washington,  this    fifteenth    day  of 
July,  in    the  year    of  our    Lord    one    thousand    eight 
[L.  s.]   hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America  the  eighty-eighth. 

"  ABRAHAM  LIXCOLX. 
"  By  the  President : 

"WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State" 


This  was  followed,  on  the  17th  of  the  same  month, 
by  a  proclamation  calling  for  three  hundred  thou 
sand  additional  men,  for  a  term  of  not  less  than  three 
years. 

In  other  portions  cf  the  field  of  war,  our  arms, 
during  the  year  1863,  had  achieved  other  victories  of 
marked  importance,  which  deserve  mention. 

The  operations  before  Charleston  and  other  points, 
although  attended  with  less  success  than  was,  perhaps, 
expected,  were  not  entirely  without  favorable  results. 

Disaster  to  the  rebel  cause  followed  the  advance  of 

"General    Rosecrans    on    Chattanooga,   and    of   General 

Burnside  upon  Knoxville,  in  the  latter  part  of  August. 

With  but  little  fighting,  Burnside  occupied  Knoxvilio 

and  Cumberland  Gap,  while  Rosecrans,  after  the  un- 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.       4G5 

favorable  battle  of  Chickamauga,  took  possession  of 
Chattanooga.  By  the  latter  part  of  September,  East 
Tennessee  was  thus  completely  in  our  possession,  and  a 
line  of  communication  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the 
enemy  was  finally  severed.  On  the  19th  of  October, 
General  Grant,  by  the  President's  order,  assumed  com 
mand  of  the  united  armies  of  the  Tennessee,  the  Cum 
berland  and  the  Ohio ;  and  the  subsequent  victories  of 
Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge,  on  the  24th 
and  25th  of  November,  as  well  as  the  decisive  defeat  of 
Longstreet  in  his  attempt  to  recover  Knoxville,  made 
this  great  acquisition  entirely  secure.  The  way  was 
thus  fully  prepared  for  assuming  the  offensive,  by  an 
advance  into  the  heart  of  Georgia,  and  the  rebellion 
seemed  now  to  be  trembling  on  the  verge  of  final  over 
throw. 

Upon  receiving  intelligence  of  these  movements,  the 
President  issued  the  following  recommendation : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Dec.  7, 1863. 
"  Keliable  information  being  received  that  the  insurgent  force 
is  retreating  from  East  Tennessee,  under  circumstances  render 
ing  it  probable  that  the  Union  forces  cannot  hereafter  be  dis 
lodged  from  that  important  position ;  and  esteeming  this  to  be 
of  high  national  consequence,  I  recommend  that  all  loyal 
people  do;  on  receipt  of  this  information,  assemble  at  their 
places  of  worship,  and  render  special  homage  and  gratitude  to 
Almighty  God  for  this  great  advancement  of  the  national 
cause. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

On  the  3d  of  October,  the  President  had  issued  the 
following  proclamation,  recommending  the  observance 


30 


466  THE   LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN". 

of  the  last  Thursday  of  November  as  a  day  of  Thanks 
giving  : 

"  By  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
"  PROCLAMATION. 

"  The  year  that  is  drawing  towards  its  close  has  been  filled 
with  the  blessings  of  fruitful  fields  and  healthful  skies.  To 
these  bounties,  which  are  so  constantly  enjoyed  that  we  are 
prone  to  forget  the  source  from  which  they  come,  others  have 
been  added  which  are  of  so  extraordinary  a  nature  that  they 
cannot  fail  to  penetrate  and  soften  even  the  heart  which  is 
habitually  insensible  to  the  ever  watchful  providence  of 
Almighty  God.  In  the  midst  of  a  civil  war  of  unequalled 
magnitude  and  severity,  which  has  sometiruv  seemed  to  invite 
and  provoke  the  aggressions  of  foreign  States,  peace  has  been 
preserved  with  all  nations,  order  has  been  maintained,  the  laws 
have  been  respected  and  obeyed,  and  harmony  has  prevailed 
everywhere  except  in  the  theatre  of  military  conflict,  while 
that  theatre  has  been  greatly  contracted  by  the  advancing 
armies  and  navies  of  the  Union.  The  needful  diversion  of 
wealth  and  strength  from  the  fields  of  peaceful  industry  to  the 
national  defence,  have  not  arrested  the  plough,  the  shuttle,  or 
the  ship.  The  axe  has  enlarged  the  borders  of  our  settlements, 
and  the  mines,  as  well  of  iron  and  coal  as  of  the  precious 
metals,  have  yielded  even  more  abundantly  than  heretofore. 
Population  has  steadily  increased,  notwithstanding  the  waste 
that  has  been  made  in  the  camp,  the  siege,  and  the  battle-field ; 
and  the  country,  rejoicing  in  the  consciousness  of  augmented 
strength  and  vigor,  is  permitted  to  expect  a  continuance  of 
years,  with  large  increase  of  freedom. 

"  No  human  counsel  hath  devised,  nor  hath  any  mortal  hand 
worked  put  these  great  things.  They  are  the  gracious  gifts  of 
the  Most  High  God,  who,  while  dealing  with  us  in  anger 
for  our  sins,  hath  nevertheless  remembered  mercy. 

"It  has  seemed  to  me  fit  and  proper  that  they  should  be 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS  OF  1863.      467 

solemnly,  reverently,  and  gratefully  acknowledged,  as  with  one 
heart  and  voice,  by  the  whole  American  people.  I  do,  there 
fore,  invite  my  fellow- citizens  in  every  part  of  the  United 
States,  and  also  those  who  are  at  sea,  and  those  who  are 
sojourning  in  foreign  lands,  to  set  apart  and  observe  the 
last  Thursday  of  November  next  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving  and 
prayer  to  our  beneficent  Father,  who  dwelleth  in  the  heavens. 
And  I  recommend  to  them  that,  while  offering  up  the  ascrip 
tions  justly  due  to  Him  for  such  singular  deliverances  and 
blessings,  they  do  also,  with  humble  penitence  for  our  national 
perverseness  and  disobedience,  commend  to  his  tender  care  all 
those  who  have  become  widows,  orphans,  mourners,  or  sufferers 
in  the  lamentable  civil  strife  in  which  we  are  unavoidably 
engaged,  and  fervently  implore  the  interposition  of  the  Al 
mighty  hand  to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  nation,  and  to  restore 
it,  as  soon  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  divine  purposes,  to  the 
full  enjoyment  of  peace,  harmony,  tranquility,  and  union. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  third  day  of  October, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
[L.  s.]  sixty -three,    and   of  the  independence   of  the    United 
States  the  eighty-eighth. 

(Signed),  "ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  By  the  President : 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State? 

Our  history  of  the  year  would  be  quite  incomplete 
without  a  brief  statement  of  some  of  the  events  arising 
from  arbitrary  arrests  by  the  government,  and  from  the 
suspension  of  the  Iwibeas  corpus  act;  events  which, 
as  connected  with  some  of  the  most  important  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  State  papers,  claim  our  attention  somewhat  in 
detail.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  the  very  outbreak 
of  the  rebellion,  the  government  had  been  confronted 


468  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

by  one  of  the  most  formidable  evils  which  embarrassed 
its  action,  in  the  fact  that  the  rebels  were  aided  and 
abetted  by  the  active  co-operation  of  men  in  the  north 
ern  States,  whose  political  sympathies  and  affiliations 
had  always  been  in  unison  with  their  own.  No  New 
Yorker,  at  least,  can  ever  forget  without  a  burning  sense 
of  humiliation,  the  favoring  apology  sent  by  Fernando 
Wood,  then  Mayor  of  New  York,  to  Senator  Toombs, 
of  Georgia,  for  the  seizure,  by  the  city  police,  of  arms 
in  process  of  shipment  to  the  State  of  Georgia ;  nor  his 
assurance  that  "if  he  had  the  power,  he  should  sum 
marily  punish  the  authors  of  this  illegal  and  unjustifi 
able  seizure  of  private  property."  As  we  have  already 
stated,  in  a  previous  chapter,  all  the  departments  of  State 
at  Washington  and  elsewhere,  as  well  as  the  army  and 
navy,  were  found  to  be  filled  with  a  large  proportion  of 
those  who  actively  sympathized  with  the  secession 
movement,  and  were  always  prompt  to  render  it  every 
possible  aid  and  comfort.  It  was  this  thorough  infiltra 
tion  of  the  traitorous  element  throughout  every  branch 
of  the  civil  and  military  departments  which,  at  first,  so 
constantly  betrayed  the  government  and  thwarted  its 
plans.  Under  cover  of  opposition  to  the  administration, 
many  prominent  newspapers  and  politicians  insiduously 
began  to  undermine  the  strength  of  the  government, 
and  to  paralyze  its  efforts  for  the  suppression  of  the 
rebellion. 

Under  these  circumstances,  resort  was  necessarily  had 
by  government  to  one  of  those  extraordinary  powers 
vested  in  it  by  the  Constitution,  in  case  of  extraordinary 
emergencies,  viz.,  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
The  question  was  not  so  much  as  the  justifi- 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      469 

ability  of  the  measure  in  the  present  case,  as  it  was 
upon  which  department  of  the  government  the  responsi 
bility  of  the  act  should  rest.  If  the  act  was  one  of 
legislation,  it  could  only  be  performed  by  Congress  and 
the  President ;  if,  in  its  nature  executive,  then  it  might 
be  performed,  the  emergency  requiring  it,  by  the  Presi 
dent  alone.  In  this  case,  however,  the  pressing  emer 
gency  of  public  affairs  cut  the  Gordian  knot  of  doubt. 
Congress  had  adjourned  on  the  4th  of  March  preceding, 
and  could  not  well  be  assembled  again  in  time.  Time 
was  precious,  for  delay  invited  further  plotting  and  mis 
chievous  combinations  between  the  rebels  and  their 
northern  coadjutors. 

Influenced  by  these  considerations,  the  President 
issued  his  proclamation  of  May  3d,  1861,  authorizing 
the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  by  the  com 
mander  of  the  United  States  forces  upon  the  Florida 
coast.  This  was  followed  necessarily  by  the  exercise  of 
the  same  power  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  These 
acts  of  the  government  were,  of  course,  violently  assailed 
by  its  opponents,  and  some  of  the  public  prints  of  the 
day  indulged  in  such  intemperate  abuse  on  the  subject 
that  they  were  refused  the  privilege  of  the  public  mails, 
and  stringent  restrictions  were  also  placed  upon  the 
transmission  of  telegraphic  intelligence.  Early  in  July, 
1862,  Attorney-General  Black  furnished  the  President, 
at  his  request,  with  an  elaborate  opinion  in  regard  to 
the  power  of  the  Executive  to  make  arrests  of  the  per 
sons  of  aiders  and  abettors  of  the  rebellion,  and  upon 
his  right  to  refuse  to  obey  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in 
case  of  such  arrests.  His  opinion  was  favorable  to  the 
government,  which  thenceforth  exerted,  with  vigor  and 


470  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

energy,  all  the  power  thus  placed  in  its  hands  to  pre 
vent  the  rebellion  from  receiving  aid  from  northern 
sympathizers.  A  large  number  of  persons  were  placed 
under  arrest,  but  were  subsequently  released  upon 
taking  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 
Baltimore,  continuing  to  be  for  some  time  the  head 
quarters  of  conspiracies  and  movements  of  various  kinds 
in  aid  of  the  rebellion,  the  arrests  were  consequently 
more  numerous  there  than  elsewhere. 

On  the  16th  of  September,  nine  secession  members 
of  the  House  of  Delegates  of  Maryland,  with  the  officers 
of  both  houses,  were  arrested  by  General  McClellan, 
then  in  command  of  the  army,  and  its  anticipated 
session  on  the  17th  was  thus  broken  up. 

The  President,  at  the  time,  made  the  following  state 
ment  of  his  views  in  regard  to  these  arrests  : 

"  The  public  safety  renders  it  necessary  that  the  grounds  of 
these  arrests  should  at  present  be  withheld,  but  at  the  proper 
time  they  will  be  made  public.  Of  one  thing  the  people  of 
Maryland  may  rest  assured,  that  no  arrest  has  been  made,  or 
will  be  made,  not  based  on  substantial  and  unmistakable  com 
plicity  with  those  in  armed  rebellion  against  the  government 
of  the  United  States.  In  no  case  has  an  arrest  been  made  on 
mere  suspicion,  or  through  personal  or  partisan  animosities, 
but  in  all  cases  the  government  is  in  possession  of  tangible  and 
unmistakable  evidence,  which  will,  when  made  public,  be  satis 
factory  to  every  loyal  citizen." 

Arrests  continued  to  be  made  under  authority  of  the 
State  Department,  not  without  complaint,  certainly, 
but  with  the  general  acquiescence  of  the  whole  com 
munity,  and  to  the  undoubted  advantage  of  the  govern- 


THE  POLITICAL  AND  MILITARY   EYKNTS   OF  1803.      471 

meut  and  the  country.  On  the  14th  of  February,  1SG2, 
control  of  the  whole  matter  was  transferred  to  the  War 
Department.  The  circumstances  which  had  made  these 
arrests  necessary  are  stated  with  so  much  clearness  and 
force  in  the  official  order,  that  we  insert  it  at  length,  as 
follows : 

EXECUTIVE  ORDERS   IN   RELATION   TO   STATE   PRISONERS. 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  Feb.  14. 

'*  The  breaking  out  of  a  formidable  insurrection,  based  on  a 
conflict  of  political  ideas,  being  an  event  without  precedent  in 
the  United  States,  was  necessarily  attended  by  great  confusion 
and  perplexity  of  the  public  mind.  Disloyalty,  before  unsus 
pected,  suddenly  became  bold,  and  treason  astonished  the 
world  by  bringing  at  once  into  the  field  military  forces  superior 
in  numbers  to  the  standing  army  of  the  United  States. 

''Every  department  of  the  government  was  paralyzed  by 
treason.  Defection  appeared  in  the  Senate,  in  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives,  in  the  Cabinet,  in  the  federal  courts ;  ministers 
and  consuls  returned  from  foreign  countries  to  enter  the  insur 
rectionary  councils,  or  land  or  naval  forces ;  commanding  and 
other  officers  of  the  army  and  in  the  navy  betrayed  the  councils 
or  deserted  their  posts  for  commands  in  the  insurgent  forces. 
Treason  was  flagrant  in  the  revenue  and  in  the  post  office 
service,  as  well  as  in  the  territorial  governments  and  in  the 
Indian  reserves. 

"Not  only  Governors,  Judges,  Legislators  and  ministerial 
officers  in  the  States,  but  even  whole  States,  rushed,  one  after 
another,  with  apparent  unanimity,  into  rebellion.  The  capital 
was  besieged  and  its  connection  with  all  the  States  cut  off. 

"  Even  in  the  portions  of  the  country  which  were  most  loyal, 
political  combinations  and  secret  societies  were  formed  further 
ing  the  work  of  disunion,  while,  from  motives  of  disloyalty  or 
cupidity,  or  from  excited  passions  or  perverted  sympathies, 


472  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

individuals  were  found  furnishing  men,  money,  and  materials 
of  war  and  supplies  to  the  insurgents'  military  and  naval  forces. 
Armies,  ships,  fortifications,  navy  yards,  arsenals,  military  posts 
and  garrisons,  one  after  another,  were  betrayed  or  abandoned 
to  the  insurgents. 

"  Congress  had  not  anticipated,  and  so  had  not  provided  for 
the  emergency.  The  municipal  authorities  were  powerless  and 
inactive.  The  judicial  machinery  seemed  as  if  it  had  been 
designed  not  to  sustain  the  government,  but  to  embarrass  and 
betray  it. 

"Foreign  intervention,  openly  invited  and  industriously  in 
stigated  by  the  abettors  of  the  insurrection,  became  imminent, 
and  has  only  been  prevented  by  the  practice  of  strict  and  im 
partial  justice  with  the  most  perfect  moderation  in  our  inter 
course  with  nations. 

"  The  public  mind  was  alarmed  and  apprehensive,  though 
fortunately  not  distracted  or  disheartened.  It  seemed  to  be 
doubtful  whether  the  Federal  government,  which  one  year 
before  had  been  thought  a  model  worthy  of  universal  accept 
ance,  had  indeed  the  ability  to  defend  and  maintain  itself. 

"  Some  reverses,  which  perhaps  were  unavoidable,  suffered 
by  newly  levied  and  inefficient  forces,  discouraged  the  loyal, 
and  gave  new  hopes  to  the  insurgents.  Voluntary  enlistments 
seemed  about  to  cease,  and  desertions  commenced.  Parties 
speculated  upon  the  question  whether  conscription  had  not 
become  necessary  to  fill  up  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 

"  In  this  emergency  the  President  felt  it  his  duty  to  employ 
with  energy  the  extraordinary  powers  which  the  Constitution 
confides  to  him  in  cases  of  insurrection.  He  called  into  the 
field  such  military  and  naval  forces,  unauthorized  by  the 
existing  laws,  as  seemed  necessary.  He  directed  measures  to 
prevent  the  use  of  the  Post  Office  for  treasonable  correspondence. 
He  subjected  passengers  to  and  from  foreign  countries  to  new 
passport  regulations,  and  he  instituted  a  blockade,  suspended 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  various  places,  and  caused  persons 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.      473 

who  were  represented  to  him  as  being  or  about  to  engage  in 
disloyal  and  treasonable  practices  to  be  arrested  by  special 
civil  as  well  as  military  agencies,  and  detained  in  military 
custody,  when  necessary,  to  prevent  them  and  deter  others 
from  such  practices.  Examinations  of  such  cases  were  insti 
tuted,  and  some  of  the  persons  so  arrested  have  been  discharged 
from  time  to  time,  under  circumstances  or  upon  conditions 
compatible,  as  was  thought,  with  the  public  safety. 

"  Meantime  a  favorable  change  of  public  opinion  has  occurred. 
The  line  between  loyalty  and  disloyalty  is  plainly  denned ;  the 
whole  structure  of  the  government  is  firm  and  stable ;  appre 
hensions  of  public  danger  and  facilities  for  treasonable  practices 
have  diminished  with  the  passions  which  prompted  heedless 
persons  to  adopt  them.  The  insurrection  is  believed  to  have 
culminated  and  to  be  declining. 

"  The  President,  in  view  of  these  facts,  and  anxious  to  favor 
a  return  to  the  normal  course  of  the  administration,  as  far  as 
regard  for  the  public  welfare  will  allow,  directs  that  all  political 
prisoners  or  State  prisoners,  now  held  in  military  custody,  be 
released  on  their  subscribing  to  a  parole  engaging  them  to  ren 
der  no  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  in  hostility  to  the  United 
States. 

"  The  Secretary  of  War  will,  however,  at  his  discretion,  ex 
cept  from  the  effect  of  this  order  any  persons  detained  as  spies 
in  the  service  of  the  insurgents,  or  others  whose  release  at  the 
present  moment  may  be  deemed  incompatible  with  the  public 
safety. 

"  To  all  persons  who  shall  be  so  released,  and  who  shall  keep 
their  parole,  the  President  grants  an  amnesty  for  any  past 
offences  of  treason  or  disloyalty  which  they  may  have  com 
mitted. 

"  Extraordinary  arrests  will  hereafter  be  made  under  the 
direction  of  the  military  authorities  alone. 

"By  order  of  the  President : 

"  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War." 


474  THE  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Wherever  the  public  safety  seemed  to  require  it,  arrests 
continued  to  be  made — the  President,  in  every  instance, 
assuming  all  the  responsibility  of  these  acts,  and  throw 
ing  himself  upon  the  courts  and  the  judgment  of  the 
country  for  his  vindication.  The  President  himself, 
however,  had  not,  up  to  this  time,  directed  any  general 
suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  or  given  any 
public  notice  of  the  rules  by  which  the  government 
would  be  guided  in  its  action  upon  cases  that  might 
arise  ;  it  being  left  to  the  Secretary  of  War  to  decide  in 
what  instances  and  for  what  causes  arrests  should  be 
made  and  the  privilege  of  the  writ  should  be  suspended. 
Some  of  the  courts  into  which  these  cases  w^ere  brought, 
had  ruled  that,  although  the  President  had  authority 
under  the  Constitution  to  suspend  the  writ,  he  could  not 
delegate  that  authority  to  any  subordinate.  To  meet 
this  case,  therefore,  the  President,  on  the  24th  of  Sep 
tember,  1862,  issued  the  following 

"  PROCLAMATION. 

"  Whereas,  it  has  been  necessary  to  call  into  service,  not  only 
volunteers,  but  also  portions  of  the  militia  of  the  States  by  draft, 
in  order  to  suppress  the  insurrection  existing  in  the  United 
States,  and  disloyal  persons  are  not  adequately  restrained  by 
the  ordinary  processes  of  law  from  hindering  this  measure,  and 
from  giving  aid  and  comfort  in  various  ways  to  the  insurrec 
tion. 

"  Now,  therefore,  be  it  ordered — 

"  First,  That  during  the  existing  insurrection,  and  as  a  neces 
sary  measure  for  suppressing  the  same,  all  rebels  and  insurgents, 
their  aiders  and  abettors,  within  the  United  States,  and  all  per 
sons  discouraging  volunteer  enlistments,  resisting  military  drafts, 
or  guilty  of  any  disloyal  practice  affording  aid  and  comfort  to 


THE  POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY    EVENTS  OF  1863.      475 

the  rebels  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
subject  to  martial  law,  and  liable  to  trial  and  punishment  by 
courts-martial  or  military  commission. 

"Second,  That  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  suspended  in  respect 
to  all  persons  arrested,  or  who  are  now,  or  hereafter  during  the 
rebellion  shall  be,  imprisoned  in  any  fort,  camp,  arsenal,  mili 
tary  prison,  or  other  place  of  confinement,  by  any  military 
authority,  or  by  the  sentence  of  any  court-martial  or  military 
commission. 

"  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal, 
and  caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  twenty -fourth  day  of 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
[L.  s.]    hundred  and  sixty-two,  and  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 
"  By  the  President : 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SB  WARD,  Secretary  of  State" 

This  was  accompanied  by  orders  from  the  War  Depart 
ment  appointing  a  Provost  Marshal-General,  whose 
headquarters  were  to  be  at  Washington,  with  special 
provost-marshals,  one  or  more,  in  each  State,  charged 
with  the  duty  of  arresting  deserters  and  disloyal  persons, 
and  of  inquiring  into  treasonable  practices  throughout 
the  country. 

.During  the  following  winter,  Congress  enacted  a  law, 
sanctioning  the  action  of  the  President  in  suspending  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  giving  him  full  authority 
to  check  and  punish  all  attempts  to  defeat  the  efforts  of 
the  government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  After 
the  adjournment,  however,  party  agitation  was  again  re 
vived,  and  public  meetings  were  held  denouncing  the 
conduct  of  the  government,  and  protesting  against  the 


476  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

further  prosecution  of  the  war.  One  of  the  most  active 
of  these  advocates  of  peace  with  the  rebel  confederacy 
was  Hon.  C.  L.  Vallandigham,  a  member  of  Congress 
from  Ohio,  who  after  the  adjournment  made  a  political 
canvass  of  his  district,  in  the  course  of  which,  in  a  speech 
at  Mount  Yernon,  on  the  1st  of  May,  he  denounced  the 
government  at  Washington  as  aiming,  in  its  conduct  of 
the  war,  not  to  restore  the  Union,  but  to  crush  out  lib 
erty  and  establish  a  despotism  :  declaring  that  the  war 
was  waged  for  the  freedom  of  the  blacks  and  the  enslav 
ing  of  the  whites,  that  the  government  could  have  had 
peace  long  before  if  it  had  really  desired  it,  that  the 
mediation  of  France  should  have  been  accepted,  and 
that  the  government  had  deliberately  rejected  propositions 
by  which  the  Southern  States  could  have  been  brought 
back  into  the  Union.  He  also  denounced  order  No.  38, 
issued  by  General  Burnside,  in  command  of  the  Depart- 
ment,  forbidding  certain  disloyal  practices,  and1  giving 
notice  that  persons  declaring  sympathy  for  the  enemy 
would  be  arrested  for  trial ;  proclaimed  his  intention  to 
disobey  it,  and  appealed  tc  his  hearers  to  resist  and  de 
feat  its  execution. 

For  this  speech  Mr.  Yallandigham  was  very  properly 
arrested,  by  order  of  General  Burnside,  on  the  4th  of 
May,  and  ordered  for  trial  before  a  court-martial  at  Cin 
cinnati.  His  application  on  the  5th,  for  a  writ  of  ha 
beas  corpus.,  was  heard  before  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States,  which  decided  adversely  to  him.  Hav 
ing,  therefore,  been  tried  by  the  military  commission,  he 
was  sentenced  to  close  confinement  at  Fort  Warren,  in 
Boston  harbor.  The  President,  however,  modified  this 
sentence  by  directing  that  he  should  be  sent  within  the 


THE  POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY  EVENTS  OF   18C3       477 

rebel  lines,  and  should  not  return  to  the  United  States 
until  after  the  close  of  the  war — and  the  sentence  was 
at  once  carried  into  execution.  This  arrest,  trial  and 
sentence,  of  course,  created  great  excitement  throughout 
the  country.  By  the  opponents  of  the  administration, 
Mr.  Vallandigham  was  treated  as  a  martyr,  and  public 
meetings  were  held  at  which  the  action  of  the  govern 
ment  was  characterized  as  tyrannical  and  dangerous  to 
the  public  liberties.  One  of  these  demonstrations  was 
held  at  Albany,  on  the  16th  of  May,  to  which  Governor 
Seymour  addressed  a  letter,  in  which  he  said,  referring 
to  the  arrest  of  Vallandigham,  "If  this  proceeding  is 
approved  by  the  government,  and  sanctioned  by  the 
people,  it  is  not  merely  a  step  toward  revloution, — it  is 
revolution.  It  will  not  only  lead  to  military  despotism, 
— it  establishes  military  despotism.  In  this  aspect  it 
must  be.accepted,  or  in  this  aspect  rejected.  *  *  The 
people  of  this  country  now  wait  with  the  deepest  anxiety 
the  decision  of  the  administration  upon  these  acts.  Hav 
ing  given  it  a  generous  support  in  the  conduct  of  the 
war,  we  pause  to  see  what  kind  of  a  government  it  is 
for  which  we  are  asked  to  pour  out  our  blood  and  our 
treasure.  The  action  of  the  administration  will  deter 
mine,  in  the  minds  of  more  than  one-half  of  the  people 
of  the  loyal  States,  whether  this  war  is  waged  to  put 
down  rebellion  at  the  South,  or  destroy  free  institutions 
at  the  North."  The  resolutions  adopted  at  this  meeting, 
while  pledging  the  Democratic  party  of  the  State  to  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  condemned  in  the  strongest 
terms  the  whole  system  of  arbitrary  arrests,  and  the 
suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 


478  v    THE    LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

A  copy  of  these  resolutions  was  forwarded  by  the 
presiding  officer  to  President  LINCOLN,  who  sent  the  fol 
lowing  letter  in  reply  : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  June  13,  1863. 
"HoN.  ERASTUS  CORNING  AND  OTHERS: 

"  Gentlemen :  Your  letter  of  May  19,  inclosing  the  resolutions 
of  a  public  meeting  held  at  Albany,  1ST.  Y.,  on  the  16th  of  the 
same  month,  was  recei  ved  several  days  ago. 

"  The  resolutions,  as  I  understand  them,  are  resolvable  into 
two  propositions — first,  the  expression  of  a  purpose  to  sustain 
the  cause  of  the  Union,  to  secure  peace  through  victory,  and 
to  support  the  administration  in  every  constitutional  and  law 
ful  measure  to  suppress  the  rebellion  ;  and,  secondly,  a  declara 
tion  of  censure  upon  the  administration  for  supposed  unconsti 
tutional  action,  such  as  the  making  of  military  arrests.  And 
from  the  two  propositions  a  third  is  deduced,  which  is,  that  the 
gentlemen  composing  the  meeting  are  resolved  on  doing  their 
part  to  maintain  our  common  government  and  country,,  despite 
the  folly  or  wickedness,  as  they  may  conceive,  of  any  adminis 
tration.  This  proposition  is  eminently  patriotic,  and  as  such 
I  thank  the  meeting  and  congratulate  the  nation  for  it.  My 
own  purpose  is  the  same,  so  that  the  meeting  and  myself  have 
a  common  object,  and  can  have  no  difference,  except  in  the 
choice  of  means  or  measures  for  effecting  that  object. 

"  And  here  I  ought  to  close  this  paper,  and  would  close  it,  if 
there  were  no  apprehensions  that  more  injurious  consequences 
than  any  merely  personal  to  myself  might  follow  the  censures 
systematically  cast  upon  me  for  doing  what,  in  my  view  of 
duty,  I  could  not  forbear.  The  resolutions  promise  to  support 
me  in  every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the 
rebellion,  and  I  have  not  knowingly  employed,  nor  shall  know 
ingly  employ,  any  other.  But  the  meeting,  by  these  resolu 
tions,  assert  and  argue  that  certain  military  arrests,  and  pro 
ceedings  following  them,  for  which  I  am  ultimately  responsible, 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY  EVENTS   OF  1863.      479 

are  unconstitutional.  I  think  they  are  not.  The  resolutions 
quote  from  the  Constitution  the  definition  of  treason,  and  also 
the  limiting  safeguards  and  guarantees  therein  provided  for  the 
citizen  on  trial  for  treason,  and  on  his  being  held  to  answer 
for  capital,  or  otherwise  infamous  crimes,  and,  in  criminal  pros 
ecutions,  his  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial 
jury.  They  procceed  to  resolve,  'that  the  safeguards  of  the 
rights  of  citizens  against  the  pretensions  of  arbitrary  power 
were  intended  more  especially  for  his  protection  in  times  of  civil 
commotion.' 

"  And  apparently  to  demonstrate  the  proposition,  the  resolu 
tions  proceed :  '  They  were  secured  substantially  to  the  English 
people  after  years  of  protracted  civil  war,  and  were  adopted 
into  our  Constitution  at  the  close  of  the  revolution.'  Would 
not  the  demonstration  have  been  better  if  it  could  have  been 
truly  said  that  these  safeguards  had  been  adopted  and  applied 
during  the  civil  wars  and  during  our  Eevolution,  instead  of 
after  the  one  and  at  the  close  of  the  other  ?  I,  too,  am  devout- 
edly  for  them  after  civil  war,  and  before  civil  war.  and  at  all 
times,  'except  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  pub 
lic  safety  may  require '  their  suspension.  The  resolutions  pro 
ceed  to  tell  us  that  these  safeguards  '  have  stood  the  test  of  sev 
enty-six  years  of  trial,  under  our  republican  system,  under  cir 
cumstances,  which  show  that,  while  they  constitute  the  founda 
tion  of  all  free  government,  they  are  the  elements  of  the  endur 
ing  stability  of  the  Republic.'  No  one  denies  that  they  have 
so  stood  the  test  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  rebellion, 
if  we  except  a  certain  occurrence  at  New  Orleans ;  nor  does 
any  one  question  that  they  will  stand  the  same  test  much  longer 
after  the  rebellion  closes.  But  these  provisions  of  the  Consti 
tution  have  no  application  to  the  case  we  have  in  hand,  because 
the  arrests  complained  of  were  not  made  for  treason — that  is, 
not  for  the  treason  defined  in  the  Constitution,  and  upon  convic 
tion  of  which  the  punishment  is  death — nor  yet  were  they 
made  to  hold  persons  to  answer  for  any  capital  or  otherwise  in- 


480  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

famous  crimes;  nor  were  the  proceedings  following,  in  aoy 
constitutional  or  legal  sense,  '  criminal  prosecutions.'  The  ar 
rests  were  made  on  totally  different  grounds,  and  the  proceed 
ings  following  accorded  with  the  grounds  of  the  arrest.  Let 
us  consider  the  real  case  with  which  we  are  dealing,  and  apply 
to  it  the  parts  of  the  Constitution  plainly  made  for  such  cases. 
"  Prior  to  my  installation  here,  it  had  been  inculcated  that 
any  State  had  a  lawful  right  to  secede  from  the  national  Union, 
'and  that  it  would  be  expedient  to  exercise  the  right  whenever 
the  devotees  of  the  doctrine  should  fail  to  elect  a  President  to 
their  own  liking.  I  was  elected  contrary  to  their  liking,  and, 
accordingly,  so  far  as  it  was  legally  possible,  they  had  taken 
seven  States  out  of  the  Union,  had  seized  many  of  the  United 
States  forts,  and  had  fired  upon  the  United  States  flag,  all 
before  I  was  inaugurated,  and,  of  course,  before  I  had  done 
any  official  act  whatever.  The  rebellion  thus  began  soon  ran 
into  the  present  civil  war ;  and,  in  certain  respects,  it  began  on 
very  unequal  terms  between  the  parties.  The  insurgents  had 
been  preparing  for  it  more  than  thirty  years,  while  the  Govern 
ment  had  taken  no  steps  to  resist  them.  The  former  had  care 
fully  considered  all  the  means  which  could  be  turned  to  iheir 
account.  It  undoubtedly  was  a  well-pondered  reliance  with 
them  that,  in  their  own  unrestricted  efforts  to  destroy  Union, 
Constitution,  and  the  law  altogether,  the  government  would,  in 
a  great  degree,  be  restrained  by  the  same  Constitution  and  law 
from  arresting  their  progress.  Their  sympathizers  pervaded 
all  departments  of  the  government,  and  nearly  all  communities 
of  the  people.  From  this  material,  under  cover  of  '  liberty  of 
speech,'  '  liberty  of  the  press,'  and  '  habeas  corpus,'  they  hoped 
to  keep  on  foot  amoungst  us  a  most  efficient  corps  of  spies,  in 
formers,  suppliers,  and  aiders  and  abettors  of  their  cause  in  a 
thousand  ways.  They  knew  that  in  times  such  as  they  were 
inaugurating,  by  the  Constitution  itself,  the  '  habeas  corpus ' 
might  be  suspended ;  but  they  also  knew  they  had  friends  who 
would  make  a  question  as  to  who  was  to  suspend  it :  meanwhile 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  1863.       481 

their  spies  and  others  might  remain  at  large  to  help  on  their  cause. 
Or  if,  as  has  happened,  the  Executive  should  suspend  the  writ, 
without  ruinous  waste  of  time,  instances  of  arresting  innocent 
persons  might  occur,  as  are  always  likely  to  occur  in  such 
cases,  and  then  a  clamor  could  be  raised  in  regard  to  this  which 
might  be,  at  least,  of  some  service  to  the  insurgent  cause.  It 
needed  no  very  keen  perception  to  discover  this  part  of  the 
enemy's  programme,  as  soon  as,  by  open  hostilities,  their 
machinery  was  put  fairly  in  motion.  Yet,  thoroughly  imbued 
with  a  reverence  for  the  guaranteed  rights  of  individuals,  I 
was  slow  to  adopt  the  strong  measures  which  by  degrees  I  have 
been  forced  to  regard  as  being  within  the  exceptions  of  the 
Constitution,  and  as  indispensable  to  the  public  safety.  Nothing 
is  better  known  to  history  than  that  courts  of  justice  are  utterly 
incompetent  to  such  cases.  Civil  courts  are  organized  chiefly 
for  trials  of  individuals,  or,  at  most,  a  few  individuals  acting  in 
concert,  and  this  in  quiet  times,  and  on  charges  of  crime  well  de 
fined  in  the  law.  Even  in  times  of  peace,  bands  of  horse-thieves 
and  robbers  frequently  grow  too  numerous  and  powerful  for  the 
ordinary  courts  of  justice.  But  what  comparison,  in  numbers, 
have  such  bands  ever  borne  to  the  insurgent  sympathizers  even 
in  many  of  the  loyal  States  ?  Again,  a  jury  too  frequently 
has  at  least  one  member  more  ready  to  hang  the  panel  than  to 
hang  the  traitor.  And  yet,  again,  he  who  dissuades  one  man 
from  volunteering,  or  induces  one  soldier  to  desert,  weakens  the 
Union  cause  as  much  as  to  kill  a  Union  soldier  in  battle.  Yet 
this  dissuasion  or  inducement  may  be  so  conducted  as  to  be  no 
defined  crime  of  which  any  civil  court  would  take  cognizance. 
•''Our?  is  a  case  of  rebellion — so  called  by  the  resolutions 
before  me — in  fact,  a  clear,  flagrant,  and  gigantic  case  of  rebel 
lion  ;  and  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  that  'the  privilege 
of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended  unless 
when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may 
require  it,'  is  the  provision  which  specially  applies  to  our  present 
case.  This  provision  plainly  attests  the  understanding  of  those 
31 


482  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

who  made  the  Constitution,  that  ordinary  courts  of  justice  are 
inadequate  to  '  cases  of  rebellion' — attests  their  purpose  that,  in 
such  cases,  men  may  be  held  in  custody  whom  the  courts,  act 
ing  on  ordinary  rules,  would  discharge.  Habeas  corpus  does 
not  discharge  men  who  are  proved  to  be  guilty  of  denned 
crime ;  and  its  suspension  is  allowed  by  the  Constitution  on 
purpose  that  men  may  be  arrested  and  held  who  cannot  be 
proved  to  be  guilty  of  denned  crime,  '  when,  in  cases  of  rebel 
lion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it.'  This  is  pre 
cisely  our  case — a  case  of  rebellion,  wherein  the  public  safety 
does  require  the  suspension.  Indeed,  arrests  by  process  of 
courts,  and  arrests  in  cases  of  rebellion,  do  not  proceed 
altogether  upon  the  same  basis.  The  former  is  directed  at  the 
small  percentage  of  ordinary  and  continuous  perpetration  of 
crime  ;  while  the  latter  is  directed  at  sudden  and  extensive  up 
rising  against  the  government,  which  at  most  will  succeed  or 
fail  in  no  great  length  of  time.  In  the  latter  case  arrests  are 
made,  not  so  much  for  what  has  been  done  as  for  what  prob 
ably  would  be  done.  The  latter  is  more  for  the  preventive  and 
less  for  the  vindicative  than  the  former.  In  such  cases  the  pur 
poses  of  men  are  much  more  easily  understood  than  in  cases  of 
ordinary  crime.  The  man  who  stands  by  and  says  nothing 
when  the  peril  of  his  government  is  discussed,  cannot  be  mis 
understood.  If  not  hindered,  he  is  sure  to  help  the  enemy; 
much  more,  if  he  talks  ambiguously — talks  for  his  country 
with  '  buts,'  and  '  if's'  and  '  ands.'  Of  how  little  value  the  con 
stitutional  provisions  I  have  quoted  will  be  rendered,  if  arrests 
shall  never  be  made  until  denned  crimes  shall  have  been  com 
mitted,  may  be  illustrated  by  a  few  notable  examples.  General 
John  C.  Breckinridge,  General  Eobert  E.  Lee,  General  Joseph 
E.  Johnston,  General  John  B.  Magruder,  General  William  B. 
Preston,  General  Simon  B.  Buckner,  and  Commodore  Franklin 
Buchanan,  now  occupying  the  very  highest  places  in  the  rebel 
war  service,  were  all  within  the  power  of  the  government  since 
the  rebellion  began,  and  were  nearly  as  well  known  to  be  traitors 


THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  -483 

then  as  now.  Unquestionably,  if  we  had  seized  and  held  them, 
the  insurgent's  cause  would  be  much  weaker.  But  no  one  of 
them  had  then  committed  any  crime  defined  in  the  law.  Every 
one  of  them,  if  arrested,  would  have  been  discharged  on  habeas 
corpus,  were  the  writ  allowed  to  operate.  In  view  of  these  and 
similar  cases,  I  think  the  time  not  unlikely  to  come  when  I 
shall  be  blamed  for  having  made  too  few  arrests  rather  than 
too  many. 

"  By  the  third  resolution,  the  meeting  indicate  their  opinion 
that  military  arrests  may  be  constitutional  in  localities  where 
rebellion  actually  exists,  but  that  such  arrests  are  unconstitu 
tional  in  localities  where  rebellion  or  insurrection  does  not 
actually  exist.  They  insist  that  such  arrests  shall  not  be  made 
'  outside  of  the  lines  of  necessary  military  occupation  and  the 
scenes  of  insurrection.'  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  Constitu 
tion  itself  makes  no  such  distinction,  I  am  unable  to  believe 
that  there  is  any  such  constitutional  distinction.  I  concede  that 
the  class  of  arrests  complained  of  can  be  constitutional  only 
when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may 
require  them ;  •  and  I  insist  that  in  such  cases  they  are  consti 
tutional  wherever  the  public  safety  does  require  them ;  as  well 
in  places  to  which  they  may  prevent  the  rebellion  extending 
as  in  those  where  it  may  be  already  prevailing ;  as  well  where 
they  may  restrain  mischievous  interference  with  the  raising  and 
supplying  of  armies  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  as  where  the  re 
bellion  may  actually  be ;  as  well  where  they  may  restrain  the 
enticing  men  out  of  the  army,  as  where  they  would  prevent 
mutiny  in  the  army ;  equally  constitutional  at  all  places  where 
they  will  conduce  to  the  public  safety,  as  against  the  dangers 
of  rebellion  or  invasion.  Take  the  particular  case  mentioned 
by  the  meeting.  It  is  asserted,  in  substance,  that  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham  was,  by  a  military  commander,  seized  and  tried  '  for  no 
other  reason  than  words  addressed  to  a  public  meeting,  in  criti 
cism  of  the  course  of  the  Administration,  and  in  condemnation 
of  the  military  orders  of  the  General.'  Now,  if  there  be  no 


484     THE   POLITICAL  AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863. 

mistake  about  this ;  if  this  assertion  is  the  truth,  and  the  whole 
truth ;  if  there  was  no  other  reason  for  the  arrest ;  then,  I  con 
cede  that  the  arrest  was  wrong.  But  the  arrest,  as  I  under 
stand,  was  made  for  a  very  different  reason.  Mr.  Yallandigham 
avows  his  hostility  to  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  Union ;  and 
his  arrest  was  made  because  he  was  laboring,  with  some  effect, 
to  prevent  the  raising  of  troops ;  to  encourage  desertions  from 
the  army ;  and  to  leave  the  rebellion  without  an  adequate  mili 
tary  force  to  suppress  it.  He  was  not  arrested  because  he  was 
damaging  the  political  prospects  of  the  Administration,  or  the 
personal  interests  of  the  commanding  general,  but  because  he 
was  damaging  the  army,  upon  the  existence  and  vigor  of  which 
the  life  of  the  nation  depends.  He  was  warring  upon  the  mili 
tary,  and  this  gave  the  military  constitutional  jurisdiction  to 
lay  hands  upon  him.  If  Mr.  Yallandigham  was  not  damaging 
the  military  power  of  the  country,  then  his  arrest  was  made  on 
mistake  of  fact,  which  I  would  be  glad  to  correct  on  reasonably 
satisfactory  evidence. 

"  I  understand  the  meeting,  whose  resolutions  I  am  consider 
ing,  to  be  in  favor  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  by  military 
force  by  armies.  Long  experience  has  shown  that  armies  can 
not  be  maintained  unless  desertions  shall  be  punished  by  the 
severe  penalty  of  death.  The  case  requires,  and  the  law  and 
the  Constitution  sanction  this  punishment.  Must  I  shoot  a 
simple-minded  soldier-boy  who  deserts,  while  I  must  not  touch 
a  hair  of  a  wily  agitator  who  induces  him  to  desert  ?  This  is 
none  the  less  injurious  when  effected  by  getting  a  father,  or 
brother,  or  friend,  into  a  public  meeting,  and  there  working 
upon  his  feelings  till  he  is  persuaded  to  write  the  soldier-boy 
that  he  is  fighting  in  a  bad  cause,  for  a  wicked  administration 
of  a  contemptible  government,  too  weak  to  arrest  and  punish 
him  if  he  shall  desert.  I  think  that,  in  such  a  case,  to  silence 
the  agitator  and  save  the  boy,  is  not  only  constitutional,  but 
withal  a  great  mercy. 

"  If  I  be  wrong  on  this  question  of  constitutional  power,  my 


THE   POLITICAL   AND    MILITARY    EVENTS   OF    1863.      485 

error  lies  in  believing  that  certain  proceedings  are  constitu 
tional  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety 
requires  them,  which  would  not  be  constitutional  when,  in  the 
absence  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  does  not 
require  them ;  in  other  words,  that  the  Constitution  is  not,  in 
its  application,  in  all  respects  the  same,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or 
invasion  involving  the  public  safety,  as  it  is  in  time  of  profound 
peace  and  public  security.  The  Constitution  itself  makes  the 
distinction  ;  and  I  can  no  more  be  persuaded  that  the  govern 
ment  can  constitutionally  take  no  strong  measures  in  time  of 
rebellion,  because  it  can  be  shown  that  the  same  could  not  be 
lawfully  taken  in  time  of  peace,  than  I  can  be  persuaded  that  a 
particular  drug  is  not  good  medicine  for  a  sick  man,  because  it 
can  be  shown  not  to  be  good  food  for  a  well  one.  Nor  am  I 
able  to  appreciate  the  danger  apprehended  by  the  meeting  that 
the  American  people  will,  by  means  of  military  arrests  during 
the  rebellion,  lose  the  right  of  public  discussion,  the  liberty  of 
speech  and  the  press,  the  law  of-  evidence,  trial  by  jury,  and 
habeas  corpus,  throughout  the  indefinite  peaceful  future,  which 
I  trust  lies  before  them,  any  more  than  I  am  able  to  believe 
that  a  man  could  contract  so  strong  an  appetite  for  emetics 
during  temporary  illness  as  to  persist  in  feeding  upon  them 
during  the  remainder  of  his  healthful  life. 

"  In  giving  the  resolutions  that  earnest  consideration  which 
you  request  of  me,  I  cannot  overlook  the  fact  that  the  meeting 
speak  as  '  Democrats.'  Nor  can  I,  with  full  respect  for  their 
known  intelligence,  and  the  fairly  presumed  deliberation  with 
which  they  prepared  their  resolutions,  be  permitted  to  suppose 
that  this  occurred  by  accident,  or  in  any  way  other  than  that 
they  preferred  to  designate  themselves  '  Democrats'  rather  than 
'American  citizens.'  In  this  time  of  national  peril,  I  would 
have  preferred  to  meet  you  on  a  level  one  step  higher  than  any 
party  platform ;  because  I  am  sure  that,  from  such  more 
elevated  position,  we  could  do  better  battle  for  the  country  we 
all  love  than  we  possibly  can  from  those  lower  ones  where,  from 


486  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  force  of  habit,  the  prejudices  of  the  past,  and  selfish  hopes 
of  the  future,  we  are  sure  to  expend  much  of  our  ingenuity  and 
strength  in  finding  fault  with  and  aiming  blows  at  each  other. 
But,  since  you  have  denied  me  this,  I  will  yet  be  thankful,  for 
the  country's  sake,  that  not  all  Democrats  have  done  so.    He,  on 
whose  discretionary  judgment  Mr.  Yallandigham  was  arrested 
and  tried,  is  a  Democrat,  having  no  old  party  afiinity  with  me ; 
and  the  judge  who  rejected  the  constitutional  view  expressed 
in  these  resolutions,  by  refusing  to  discharge  Mr.  Vallandigham 
on  habeas  corpus,  is  a  Democrat  of  better  days  than  these,  having 
received  his  judicial  mantle  at  the  hands  of  President  Jackson. 
And  still  more,  of  all  those  Democrats  who  are  nobly  exposing 
their  lives  and  shedding  their  blood,  on  the  battle-field,  I  have 
learned  that  many  approve  the  course  taken  with  Mr.  Yallan 
digham,  while  I  have  not  heard  of  a  single  one  condemning  it. 
I  cannot  assert  that  there  are  none  such.     And  the  name  of 
Jackson  recalls  an  incident  of  pertinent  history: — After  the 
battle  of  New  Orleans,  and  while  the  fact  that  the  treaty  of 
peace  had  been  concluded  was  well  known  in  the  city,  but 
before  official  knowledge  of  it  had  arrived,  General  Jackson 
still  maintained  martial  or  military  law.     Now  that  it  could  be 
said  the  war  was  over,  the  clamor  against  martial  law,  which 
had  existed  from  the  first,  grew  more  furious.     Among  other 
things,  a  Mr.  Louiallier  published  a  denunciatory  newspaper 
article.     General  Jackson  arrested  him.    A  lawyer  by  the  name 
of  Morrel  procured  the  United  States  Judge  Hall  to  issue  a  writ 
of  habeas  corpus  to  relieve  Mr.  Louiallier.     General  Jackson 
arrested  both  the  lawyer  and  the  judge.     A  Mr.  Hollander 
ventured  to  say  of  some  part  of  the  matter  that  "  it  was  a  dirty 
trick."    General  Jackson  arrested  him.    When  the  officer  under 
took  to  serve  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  General  Jackson  took  it 
from  him,  and  sent  him  away  with  a  copy.     Holding  the  judge 
in  custody  a  few  days,  the  General  sent  him  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  encampment,  and  set  him  at  liberty,  with  an  order  to 
remain  till  the  ratification ,  of  peace  should  be  regularly  an- 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      487 

•£• 
nounced,  or  until  the  British  should  have  left  the  Southern 

coast.  A  day  or  two  more  elapsed,  the  ratification  of  a  treaty 
of  peace  was  regularly  announced,  and  the  judge  and  others 
were  fully  liberated.  A  few  days  more,  and  the  judge  called 
General  Jackson  into  court  and  fined  him  one  thousand  dollars 
for  having  arrested  him  and  the  others  named.  The  General 
paid  the  fine,  and  there  the  matter  rested  for  nearly  thirty 
years,  when  Congress  refunded  principal  and  interest.  The 
late  Senator  Douglas,  then  in  the  House  of  Eepresentatives, 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  debates,  in  which  the  constitutional 
question  was  much  discussed.  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  whom 
the  journals  would  show  to  have  voted  for  the  measure. 

"  It  may  be  remarked :  First,  that  we  had  the  same  Constitu 
tion  then  as  now ;  second,  that  we  then  had  a  case  of  invasion, 
and  now  we  have  a  case  of  rebellion ;  and,  thirdly,  that  the 
permanent  right  of  the  people  to  public  discussion,  the  liberty 
of  speech  and  of  the  press,  the  trial  by  jury,  the  law  of  evidence, 
and  the  habeas  corpus,  suffered  no  detriment  whatever  by  that 
conduct  of  General  Jackson,  or  its  subsequent  approval  by  the 
American  Congress. 

"  And  yet,  let  me  say  that,  in  my  own  discretion,  I  do  not 
know  whether  I  would  have  ordered  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Yallan- 
digham.  While  I  cannot  shift  the  responsibility  from  myself, 
I  hold  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  commander  in  the  field  is  the 
better  judge  of  the  necessity  in  any  particular  case.  Of  course, 
I  must  practice  a  general  directory  and  revisory  power  in  the 
matter. 

"  One  of  the  resolutions  expresses  the  opinion  of  the  meeting 
that  arbitrary  arrests  will  have  the  effect  to  divide  and  distract 
tho.se  who  should  be  united  in  suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  I 
am  specifically  called  on  to  discharge  Mr.  Yallandigham.  I 
regard  this  as,  at  least,  a  fair  appeal  to  me  on  the  expediency 
of  exercising  a  constitutional  power  which  I  think  exists.  In 
response  to  such  appeal,  I  have  to  say,  it  gave  me  pain  when  I 
learned  that  Mr.  Yallandigham  had  been  arrested—  that  is,  I 


488  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LIXCOLN. 

was  pained  that  tlSfc  should  have  seemed  to  be  a  necessity  for 
arresting  him — and  that  it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  dis 
charge  him  so  soon  as  I  can,  by  any  means,  believe  the  public 
safety  will  not  suffer  by  it.  I  further  say  that,  as  the  war  pro 
gresses,  it  appears  to  me,  opinion  and  action  which  were  in  great 
confusion  at  first,  take  shape  and  fall  into  more  regular  channels, 
so  that  the  necessity  for  strong  dealing  with  them  gradually 
decreases.  I  have  every  reason  to  desire  that  it  should  cease 
altogether ;  and  far  from  the  least  is  my  regard  for  the  opinions 
and  wishes  of  those  who,  like  the  meeting  at  Albany,  declare 
their  purpose  to  sustain  the  government  in  every  constitutional 
and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the  rebellion.  Still,  I  must 
continue  to  do  so  much  as  may  seem  to  be  required  by  the 
public  safety.  "  A.  LINCOLN." 

Similar  meetings  were  held  in  other  cities  and  towns 
of  the  North,  and,  on  the  llth  of  June,  at  a  State  Con 
vention  of  the  Democratic  party,  held  at  Columbus, 
Ohio,  for  the  nomination  of  State  officers,  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham  was  made  the  Democratic  candidate  for  governor, 
receiving,  on  the  first  ballot,  four  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  votes  out  of  four  hundred  and  sixty-one,  the  wrhole 
number  cast.  Resolutions  were  adopted  protesting 
against  the  Emancipation  Proclamation;  condemning 
martial  law  in  loyal  States,  where  war  does  not  exist ; 
denouncing  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  ; 
protesting  very  strongly  against  the  banishment  of  Val- 
landigham,  and  calling  on  the  President  to  restore  him 
to  his  rights  ;  declaring  that  they  would  hail  with  de 
light  the  desire  of  the  seceded  States  to  return  to  their 
allegiance,  and  that  they  would  co-operate  with  the 
citizens  of  those  States  in  measures  for  the  restoration  of 
peace 


JoF    ] 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENMOF   1863.       489 

A  committe,  on  the  26th  of  June,  presented  to  the 
President  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Convention, 
and  urged  the  immediate  recall  and  restoration  of  Mr. 
Vallandigham,  their  candidate  for  governor.  To  this 
President  LINCOLN  made  the  following  reply: 

"  WASHINGTON,  June  29,  1863. 

"GENTLEMEN : — The  resolutions  of  the  Ohio  Democratic  State 
Convention,  which  you  present  me,  together  with  your  intro 
ductory  and  closing  remarks,  being  in  position  and  argument 
mainly  the  same  as  the  resolutions  of  the  Democratic  meeting 
at  Albany,  New  York,  I  refer  you  to  my  response  to  the  latter 
as  meeting  most  of  the  points  in  the  former. 

"This  response  you  evidently  used  in  preparing  your  remarks, 
and  I  desire  no  more  than  that  it  be  used  with  accuracy.  In  a 
single  reading  of  your  remarks,  I  only  discovered  one  inaccu 
racy  in  matter  which  I  suppose  you  took  from  that  paper.  It 
is  where  you  say,  l  The  undersigned  are  unable  to  agree  with 
you  in  the  opinion  you  have  expressed  that  the  Constitution  is 
different  in  time  of  insurrection  or  invasion  from  what  it  is  in 
time  of  peace  and  public  security.' 

"A  recurrence  to  the  paper  will  show  you  that  I  have  not 
expressed  the  opinion  you  suppose.  I  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  Constitution  is  different  in  its  application  in  cases  of 
rebellion  or  invasion,  involving  the  public  safety,  from  what  it 
is  in  times  of  profound  peace  and  public  security ;  and  this 
opinion  I  adhere  to,  simply  because,  by  the  Constitution  itself, 
things  may  be  done  in  the  one  case  which  may  not  be  done  in 
the  other. 

"  I  dislike  to  waste  a  word  on  a  merely  personal  point,  but  I 
must  respectfully  assure  you  that  you  will  find  yourselves  at 
fault  should  you  ever  seek  for  evidence  to  prove  your  assump 
tion  that  I  '  opposed  in  discussions  before  the  people  the  policy 
of  the  Mexican  war.' 

''You  say,   'Expunge  from  the  Constitution  this  limitation 


490  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

upon  the  power  of  Congress  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  and  yet  the  other  guarantees  of  personal  liberty  would 
remain  unchanged.'  Doubtless  if  this  clause  of  the  Constitu 
tion  improperly  called,  as  I  think,  a  limitation  upon  the  power 
of  Congress,  were  expunged,  the  other  guarantees  would  remain 
the  same ;  but  the  question  is,  not  how  those  guarantees  would 
stand  with  that  clause  out  of  the  Constitution,  but  how  they 
stand  with  that  clause  remaining  in  it,  in  case  of  rebellion  or 
invasion,  involving  the  public  safety.  If  the  liberty  could  be 
indulged  in  expunging  that  clause,  letter  and  spirit,  I  really 
think  the  constitutional  argument  would  be  with  you. 

"My  general  view  on  this  question  was  stated  in  the  Albany 
response,  and  hence  I  do  not  state  it  now.  I  only  add,  that,  as 
seems  to  me,  the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  the  great 
means  through  which  the  guarantees  of  personal  liberty  are 
conserved  and  made  available  in  the  last  resort ;  and  corrobo 
rative  of  this  view,  is  the  fact  that  Mr.  Yallandigham  in  the 
very  case  in  question,  under  the  advice  of  able  lawyers,  saw 
not  where  else  to  go  but  to  the  habeas  corpus.  But  by  the  Con 
stitution  the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  itself  may  be 
suspended,  when,  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public 
safety  may  require  it. 

"  You  ask,  in  substance,  whether  I  really  claim  that  I  may 
override  all  the  guaranteed  rights  of  individuals,  on  the  plea 
of  conserving  the  public  safety — when  I  may  choose  to  say  the 
public  safety  requires  it.  This  question,  divested  of  the  phrase 
ology  calculated  to  represent  me  as  struggling  for  an  arbitrary 
personal  prerogative,  is  either  simply  a  question  who  shall  de 
cide,  or  an  affirmation  that  nobody  shall  decide,  what  the  public 
safety  does  require  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion.  The 
Constitution  contemplates  the  question  as  likely  to  occur  for 
decision,  but  it  does  not  expressly  declare  who  is  to  decide  it. 
By  necessary  implication,  when  rebellion  or  invasion  comes, 
the  decision  is  to  be  made  from  time  to  time ;  and  I  think  the 
man  whom,  for  the  time,  the  people  have,  under  the  Constitu- 


THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  491 

tion,  made  the  commandcr-in-cliief  of  their  army  and  navy,  is 
the  man  who  holds  the  power  and  bears  the  responsibility  of 
making  it.  If  he  uses  the  power  justly,  the  same  people  will 
probably  justify  him  ;  if  he  abuses  it,  he  is  in  their  hands  to 
be  dealt  with  by  all  the  modes  they  have  reserved  to  themselves 
in  the  Constitution. 

"The  earnestness  with  which  you  insist  that  persons  can 
only,  in  times  of  rebellion,  be  lawfully  dealt  with  in  accord 
ance  with  the  rules  for  criminal  trials  and  punishments  in  times 
of  peace,  induces  me  to  add  a  word  to  what  I  said  on  that  point 
in  the  Albany  response.  You  claim  that  men  may,  if  they 
choose,  embarrass  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  combat  a  giant 
rebellion,  and  then  be  dealt  with  only  in  turn  as  if  there  were 
no  rebellion.  The  Constitution  itself  rejects  this  view.  The 
military  arrests  and  detentions  which  have  been  made,  in 
cluding  those  of  Mr.  Vallandigham,  which  are  not  different  in 
principle  from  the  other,  have  been  for  prevention,  and  not  for 
punishment — as  injunctions  to  stay  injury,  as  proceedings  to 
keep  the  peace — and  hence,  like  proceedings  in  such  cases,  and 
for  like  reasons,  they  have  not  been  accompanied  with  indict 
ments,  or  trial  by  juries,  nor  in  a  single  case  by  any  punish 
ment  whatever  beyond  what  is  purely  incidental  to  the  pre 
vention.  The  original  sentence  of  imprisonment  in  Mr. 
Yallandigham's  case  was  to  prevent  injury  to  the  military 
service  only,  and  the  modification  of 'it  was  made  as  a  less 
disagreeable  mode  to  him  of  securing  the  same  prevention. 

"  I  am  unable  to  perceive  an  insult  to  Ohio  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Yallandigham.  Quite  surely  nothing  of  this  sort  was  or 
is  intended.  I  was  wholly  unaware  that  Mr.  Yallandigham 
was,  at  the  time  of  his  arrest,  a  candidate  for  the  Democratic 
nomination  of  Governor,  until  so  informed  by  your  reading  to 
me  the  resolutions  of  the  Convention.  I  am  grateful  to  the 
State  of  Ohio  for  many  things,  especially  for  the  brave  soldiers 
and  officers  she  has  given  in  the  present  national  trial  to  the 
armies  of  the  Union. 


492     THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863. 

"  You  claim,  as  I  understand,  that  according  to  my  own  po 
sition  in  the  Albany  response,  Mr.  Vallandigham  should  be 
released  ;  and  this  because,  as  you  claim,  he  has  not  damaged 
the  military  service  by  discouraging  enlistments,  encouraging 
desertions,  or  otherwise ;  and  that  if  he  had,  he  should  have 
been  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities  under  the  recent  acts 
of  Congress.  I  certainly  do  not  know  that  Mr.  Vallandigham 
has  specifically  and  by  direct  language  advised  against  enlist 
ments,  and  in  favor  of  desertions  and  resistance  to  drafting. 
We  all  know  that  combinations,  armed  in  some  instances,  to 
resist  the  arrest  of  deserters,  began  several  months  ago ;  that 
more  recently  the  like  has  appeared  in  resistance  to  the  enrol 
ment  preparatory  to  a  draft ;  ^and  that  quite  a  number  of  assas 
sinations  have  occurred  from  the  same  animus.  These  had  to 
be  met  by  military  force,  and  this  again  has  led  to  bloodshed 
and  death.  And  now,  under  a  sense  of  responsibility  more 
weighty  and  enduring  than  any  which  is  merely  official,  I 
solemnly  declare  my  belief  that  this  hindrance  of  the  military, 
including  maiming  and  murder,  is  due  to  the  cause  in  which 
Mr.  Vallandigham  has  been  engaged,  in  a  greater  degree  than 
to  any  other  cause;  and  it  is  due  to  him  personally  in  a  greater 
degree  than  to  any  other  man. 

"These  things  have  been  notorious,  known  to  all,  and  of 
course  known  to  Mr.  Vallandigham.  Perhaps  I  would  not  be 
wrong  to  say  they  originated  with  his  especial  friends  and 
adherents.  With  perfect  knowledge  of  them  he  has  frequently, 
if  not  constantly,  made  speeches  in  Congress  and  before  popular 
assemblies;  and  if  it  can  be  shown  that,  with  these  things 
staring  him  in  the  face,  he  has  ever  uttered  a  word  of  rebuke 
or  counsel  against  them,  it  will  be  a  fact  greatly  in  his  favor 
with  me,  and  of  which,  as  yet,  I  am  totally  ignorant.  When  it 
is  known  that  the  whole  burden  of  his  speeches  has  been  to 
stir  up  men  against  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  that  in  the 
midst  of  resistance  to  it  he  has  not  been  known  in  any  instance 
to  counsel  against  resistance,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  repel 
the  inference  that  he  has  counselled  directly  in  favor  of  it. 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.      493 

"  With  all  this  before  their  eyes,  the  convention  you  repre 
sent  have  nominated  Mr.  Yallandigham  for  Governor  of  Ohio, 
and  both  they  and  you  have  declared  the  purpose  to  sustain 
the  national  Union  by  all  constitutional  means,  but,  of  course, 
they  and  you,  in  common,  reserve  to  yourselves  to  decide  what 
are  constitutional  means,  and,  unlike  the  Albany  meeting,  you 
omit  to  state  or  intimate  that,  in  your  opinion,  an  army  is  a 
constitutional  means  of  saving  the  Union  against  a  rebellion,  or 
even  to  intimate  that  you  are  conscious  of  an  existing  rebellion 
being  in  progress  with  the  avowed  object  of  destroying  that 
very  Union.  At  the  same  time,  your  nominee  for  governor,  in 
whose  behalf  you  appeal,  is  known  to  you,  and  to  the  world,  to 
declare  against  the  use  of  an  army  to  suppress  the  rebellion. 
Your  own  attitude,  therefore,  encourages  desertion,  resistance 
to  the  draft,  and  the  like,  because  it  teaches  those  who  incline 
to  desert  and  to  escape  the  draft,  to  believe  it  is  your  purpose 
to  protect  them,  and  to  hope  that  you  will  become  strong 
enough  to  do  so. 

"  After  a  short  personal  intercourse  with  you,  gentlemen  of 
the  committee,  I  cannot  say  I  think  you  desire  this  effect 
to  follow  your  attitude ;  but  I  assure  you  that  both  friends  and 
enemies  of  the  Union  look  upon  it  in  this  light.  It  is  a  sub 
stantial  hope,  and  by  consequence,  a  real  strength  to  the  enemy. 
If  it  is  a  false  hope,  and  one  which  you  would  willingly  dispel, 
I  will  make  the  way  exceedingly  easy.  I  send  you  duplicates 
of  this  letter,  in  order  that  you,  or  a  majority,  may,  if  you 
choose,  indorse  your  names  upon  one  of  them,  and  return 
it  thus  indorsed  to  me,  with  the  understanding  that  those  sign 
ing  are  thereby  committed  to  the  following  propositions, 
and  to  nothing  else  • 

"  1.  That  there  is  now  rebellion  in  the  United  States,  the 
object  and  tendency  of  which  is  to  destroy  the  national  Union ; 
and  that,  in  your  opinion,  an  army  and  navy  are  constitutional 
means  for  suppressing  that  rebellion. 

"  2.  That  no  one  of  you  will  do  any  thing  which,  in  his  own 


494  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

judgment,  will  tend  to  hinder  the  increase,  or  favor  the  de 
crease,  or  lessen  the  efficiency  of  the  army  and  navy,  while 
engaged  in  the  effort  to  suppress  that  rebellion ;  and — 

"3.  That  each  of  you  will,  in  his  sphere,  do  all  he  can 
to  have  the  officers,  soldiers,  and  seamen  of  the  army  and 
navy,  while  engaged  in  the  effort  to  suppress  the  rebellion, 
paid,  fed,  clad,  and  otherwise  well  provided  for  and  supported. 

"  And  with  the  further  understanding  that  upon  receiving 
the  letter  and  names  thus  indorsed,  I  will  cause  them  to  be 
published,  which  publication  shall  be,  within  itself,  a  revoca 
tion  of  the  order  in  relation  to  Mr.  Yallandigham. 

"  It  will  not  escape  observation  that  I  consent  to  the  release 
of  Mr.  Yallandigham  upon  terms  not  embracing  any  pledge 
from  him  or  from  others  as  to  what  he  will  or  will  not  do.  I 
do  this  because  he  is  not  present  to  speak  for  himself,  or 
to  authorize  others  to  speak  for  him ;  and  hence  I  shall  expect 
that  on  returning  he  would  not  put  himself  practically  in 
antagonism  with  the  position  of  his  friends.  But  I  do  it 
chiefly  because  I  thereby  prevail  on  other  influential  gentlemen 
of  Ohio  to  so  define  their  position  as  to  be  of  immense  value 
to  the  army — thus  more  than  compensating  for  the  conse 
quences  of  any  mistake  in  allowing  Mr.  Yallandigham  to 
return,  so  that,  on  the  whole,  the  public  safety  will  not  have 
suffered  by  it.  Still,  in  regard  to  Mr.  Yallandigham  and  all 
others,  I  must  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  do  so  much  as  the 
public  service  may  seem  to  require. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  respectfully,  yours,  &c., 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

The  canvass  throughout  the  summer  was  very  ani 
mated,  the  opponents  of  the  administration  in  Ohio,  as 
elsewhere  throughout  the  country,  making  the  matter 
of  arbitrary  arrests  a  very  prominent  point  of  attack. 
Special  prominence  was  given  to  the  fact  that  instead  of 
acting  directly  upon  his  own  responsibility  ir  these 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  1863.      495 

eases,  the  President  left  them  to  the  discretion  of 
military  commanders  in  the  several  departments ;  this 
being  held  to  be  in  violation  of  the  law  of  Congress 
authorizing  the  President  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  but  not  to  delegate  that  high  prerogative.  To 
meet  this  objection,  therefore,  and  to  establish  a  uniform 
mode  of  action  on  the  subject,  the  President  issued  the 
following 

"  PROCLAMATION. 

"WHEREAS,  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has 
ordained  that  '  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shal 
not  be  suspended,  unless,  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  in 
vasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it;  and,  WHEREAS,  a 
rebellion  was  existing  on  the  3d  day  of  March,  1863,  which 
rebellion  is  still  existing ;  and,  WHEREAS,  by  a  statute  which 
was  approved  on  that  day,  it  was  enacted  by  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress 
assembled,  that  during  the  present  insurrection  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  whenever  in  his  judgment  the  public 
safety  may  require,  is  authorized  to  suspend  the  privilege  of 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  any  case  throughout  the  United 
States,  or  any  part  thereof ;  and,  WHEREAS,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  President  the  public  safety  does  require  that  the  privilege 
of  the  said  writ  shall  now  be  suspended  throughout  the  United 
States  in  cases  where,  by  the  authority  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  military,  naval  and  civil  officers  of  the  United 
States,  or  any  of  them,  hold  persons  under  their  command  or 
in  their  custody,  either  as  prisoners  of  wai;  spies,  or  aiders  or 
abettors  of  the  enemy,  or  officers,  soldiers,  or  seamen  enrolled 
drafted,  or  mustered,  or  enlisted  in,  or  belonging  to  the  land  or 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  or  as  deserters  therefrom, 
or  otherwise  amenable  to  military  law,  or  to  the  rules  and 
articles  of  war,  or  the  rules  and  regulations  prescribed  for  the 
military  or  naval  services  by  the  authority  of  the  President  of 


496  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN/ 

the  United  States,  or  for  resisting  the  draft,  or  for  any  other 
offence  against  the  military  or  naval  service ;  now,  therefore,  I, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  do  hereby 
proclaim  and  make  known  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that 
the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  suspended  through 
out  the  United  States,  in  the  several  cases  before  mentioned, 
and  that  this  suspension  will  continue  throughout  the  duration 
of  the  said  rebellion,  or  until  this  proclamation  shall,  by  a  sub 
sequent  one,  to   be   issued   by  the   President  of  the  United 
States,  be  modified  and  revoked.     And  I  do  hereby  require  all 
magistrates,    attorneys,    and    other    civil    officers   within   the 
United  States,  and  all  officers  and  others  in  the  military  and 
naval  services  of  the  United  States,  to  take  distinct  notice  of 
this  suspension,  and  give  it  full  effect,  and  all  citizens  of  the 
United  States  to  conduct  and  govern  themselves  accordingly, 
and  in  conformity  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  laws  of  Congress  in  such  cases  made  and  provided. 
"In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed,  this 
fifteenth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty- 
eighth. 

"ABKAHAM  LINCOLN. 
"By  the  President: 

"  WM.  H.  SEWAKD,  Secretary  of  State." 

The  Strenuous  efforts  hitherto  made  by  the  enemies 
of  the  government  to  arouse  hostility  against  its  general 
policy,  had  proved  successful  in  the  discouragement  of 
volunteer  enlistments;  and  the  government  found  it 
necessary  to  resort  to  the  extraordinary  power  vested  in 
it  by  the  "  Conscription  Act."  The  questions  raised  in 
regard  to  the  liability  of  foreigners  to  be  drafted  under 
this  law,  were  decisively  settled  by  a  special  proclama- 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.      497 

tion  from  the  President,  on  the  8th  of  May,  1863 ;  and 
it  was  subsequently  ordered  that  the  draft  should  take 
place  in  July,  and  the  quotas  were  assigned  to  the  re 
spective  States. 

Great  pains  had  been  taken  by  the  opponents  of  the 
administration  to  excite  odium  against  that  clause  of  the 
law  fixing  the  price  of  exemption  from  service  under  the 
draft  at  three  hundred  dollars.  It  was  represented  that 
this  clause  was  for  the  special  benefit  of  the  rich,  who 
could  easily  pay  the  sum  required ;  while  poor  men  who 
were  unable  to  pay  it  would  be  compelled,  at  whatever 
hardships  to  themselves  and  their  families,  to  enter  the 
army.  The  draft  was  commenced  in  the  city  of  New 
York  on  Saturday,  July  llth,  and  was  conducted 
quietly  and  successfully  during  that  day.  But  on 
Monday  morning,  July  13th,  one  of  the  district 
enrolling  officers  was  suddenly  attacked  by  an  armed 
mob,  the  wheel  and  lists  destroyed,  and  the  building 
set  on  fire.  The  city  was  surprised  by  this  sudden  out 
break  of  an  evidently  organized  attempt  to  overawe  the 
government  authority,  for  the  first  day's  movements 
seemed  to  be  primarily  directed  against  every  one  sujv 
posed  to  be  in  any  way  concerned  in  the  draft,  or 
prominently  identified,  officially  or  otherwise,  with  the 
administration  or  the  Republican  party.  After  the  first 
day  the  rioters  took  a  new  turn,  and  gave  themselves 
up  to  indiscriminate  sack  aud  pillage  of  whatever  they 
could  lay  their  hands  upon.  Unfortunately  the  militia 
regiments  of  the  city  had  been  sent  to  Pennsylvania  to 
meet  the  rebel  invasion ;  and  the  only  guardians  left  for 
the  public  peace  were  the  regular  police,  and  a  few 
hundred  soldiers  who  garrisoned  the  forts.  Both  behaved 


498  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

with  the  greatest  vigor  and  fidelity,  but  they  were  too 
few  to  protect  the  city,  which,  for  four  days,  seemed  to 
be  perfectly  abandoned  to  the  control  of  the  mob. 
Negroes  were  assaulted,  beaten  to  death,  mutilated,  and 
hung;  buildings  burned,  and  gangs  of  desparadoes 
patrolled  the  streets,  levying  contributions,  and  ordering 
places  of  business  to  be  closed. 

Finally,  however,  the  strong  arm  of  the  law  began  to 
make  itself  felt.  The  noble  efforts  of  the  United  States 
troops  and  the  police,  aided  by  the  militia  regiments 
who  began  to  return  from  Pennsylvania,  were  successful 
in  dispersing  the  bands  of  rioters,  and  restoring  the 
peace  of  the  city. 

During  these  riots  the  draft  was  necessarily  suspended, 
and  on  the  3d  of  August,  Governor  Seymour  addressed 
a  long  letter  to  the  President,  asking  that  further  pro 
ceedings  under  the  draft  might  be  postponed  until  it 
should  be  seen  whether  the  number  required  from  the 
State  of  New  York  could  not  be  raised  by  volunteering,  and 
also  until  the  constitutionality  of  the  law  could  be  tested 
in  the  judicial  tribunals.  In  his  reply,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
after  stating  the  facts  and  premises  on  which  the 
government  had  acted  in  regard  to  the  draft  in  New 
York  city,  thus  frankly  but  firmly  meets  the  issue  made 
by  the  Governor : 

"I  do  not  object  to  abide  a  decision  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  or  of  the  Judges  thereof,  on  the  constitution 
ality  of  the  draft  law.  In  fact,  I  should  be  willing  to  facilitate 
the  obtaining  of  it.  But  I  cannot  consent  to  lose  the  time  while  it 
is  being  obtained.  We  are  contending  with  an  enemy  who,  as  I 
understand,  drives  every  able-bodied  man  he  can  reach  into  his 
ranks,  very  much  as  a  butcher  drives  bullocks  into  a  slaugl  i  u*r-pen. 


THE  POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY  EVENTS  OF   1863.       499 

"No  time  is  wasted,  no  argument  is  used.  This  produces  an 
army  which  will  soon  turn  upon  our  now  victorious  soldiers 
already  in  the  field,  if  they  shall  not  be  sustained  by  recruits 
as  they  should  be.  It  produces  an  army  with  a  rapidity  not  to 
be  matched  on  our  side,  if  we  first  waste  time  to  re-experiment 
with  the  volunteer  system,  already  deemed  by  Congress,  and 
palpably,  in  fact,  so  far  exhausted  as  to  be  inadequate :  and 
then  more  time  to  obtain  a  court  decision  as  to  whether  a  law 
is  constitutional  which  requires  a  part  of  those  not  now  in  the 
service  to  go  to  the  aid  of  those  who  are  already  in  it ;  and  still 
more  time  to  determine  with  absolute  certainty  that  we  get 
those  who  are  to  go  in  the  precisely  legal  proportion  to  those 
who  are  not  to  go.  My  purpose  is  to  be  in  my  action  just  and 
constitutional,  and  yet  practical,  in  performing  the  important 
duty  with  which  I  am  charged,  of  maintaining  the  unity  and 
free  principles  of  our  common  country. 

"  Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN." 

The  draft  in  New  York  was  resumed  on  the  19th  of 
August,  and  ample  preparations  having  been  made  for 
the  preservation  of  the  public  peace,  encountered  no 
further  opposition.  In  every  other  part  of  the  country, 
the  proceedings  were  conducted  and  completed  without 
resistance. 

Another  combination  of  unfortunate  events  and  cir 
cumstances  which  sorely  beset  and  tried  the  patience  of 
the  Chief  Magistrate  was  the  unfortunate  Missouri  im 
broglio. 

In  this  State,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  the 
Executive  Department  was  under  the  control  of  traitors, 
who,  under  pretence  of  warding  off  domestic  treason, 
were,  in  reality,  organizing  its  forces  for  active  co-opera 
tion  with  the  secession  movement.  Governor  Jackson 
had  convened  the  Legislature  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
the  State  out  of  the  Union,  but  the  people  defeated  his 


500  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

traitorous  project,  by  electing  a  large  majority  of  Union 
members,  who,  on  the  30th  of  July,  1861,  declared  all 
the  Executive  offices  vacant,  and  appointed  a  loyal  pro 
visional  government,  of  which  the  Hon.  H.  K.  Gamble 
was  made  the  head.  He  immediately  ordered  all  rebel 
troops  to  withdraw  from  the  State  ;  called  upon  the  citi 
zens  to  organize  for  the  public  defense,  and  took  other 
decisive  measures  to  maintain  the  national  authority 
within  the  State.  Shortly  after,  Governor  Jackson,  return 
ing  from  Richmond,  declared  the  State  to  be  out  of  the 
Union,  and  summoned  a  new  Legislature,  which,  sub 
servient  to  his  wishes,  on  the  2d  of  November,  ratified  a 
treaty,  by  which  certain  commissioners,  on  both  sides, 
agreed  that  Missouri  should  join  the  rebel  confederacy. 
The  State  authority  was  thus  divided — two  persons  claim 
ing  to  wield  the  Executive  authority,  and  two  bodies,  also, 
claiming  to  represent  the  popular  will, — one  adhering 
to  the  Union,  and  the  other  to  the  confederacy  in  organ 
ized  rebellion  against  it.  This  state  of  things  naturally 
opened  every  section  and  neighborhood  of  the  State,  to 
all  the  evil  effects  of  civil  war. 

To  these  were  gradually  added  other  evils  arising 
from  a  division  of  sentiment,  which  soon  ripened  into 
sharp  hostility,  among  the  friends  of  the  Union  within 
the  State.  One  of  the  principal  and  earliest  causes  of 
this  was  the  action  and  removal  of  General  Fremont, 
who  had  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  to  take  command  of  the 
Western  Department,  on  the  26th  of  July,  1861.  On 
the  31st  of  August  he  issued  a  proclamation,  declaring 
that  circumstances,  in  his  judgment,  of  sufficient  urgency 
rendered  it  necessary  that  "  the  commanding  general  of 
the  Department  should  assume  the  administrative  poicer 


THE    POLITICAL   AND    MILITARY   EVENTS    OF    1863.      501 

of  the  State,  thus  superseding  entirely  the  authority  of 
the  civil  rulers ;  proclaiming,  also,  the  State  to  be  under 
martial  law ;  declaring  that  all  persons  taken  with  arms 
in  their  hands,  within  the  designated  lines  of  the  de 
partment,  should  be  tried  by  a  courirmartial,  and  if 
found  guilty,  shot ;  and  confiscating  the  property  and 
emancipating  the  slaves  of  "  all  persons  who  should  be 
proved  to  have  taken  an  active  part  with  the  enemies 
of  the  United  States."  This  latter  clause,  which  tran 
scended  the  authority  conferred  by  the  confiscation  act 
of  Congress,  was  subsequently  modified  by  order  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States.* 

On  the  14th  of  October,  after  a  personal  inspection 
of  affairs  in  that  department  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
General  Fremont  was  censured  by  an  order  from  the 
War  office,  on  grounds  mainly  relating  to  his  lavish  and 
unwarranted  expenditures,  etc. ;  and  this  was  followed, 
on  the  2d  of  November,  by  an  order  relieving  him  from 
his  command,  which  then  devolved  upon  General  Hun 
ter.  He,  in  turn,  was  superseded,  sixteen  days  later,  by 
General  Halleck.  Fremont's  removal  was  made,  by  his 
numerous  friends,  especially  among  the  German  popula 
tion,  the  occasion  of  magnificent  public  demonstrations 
of  sympathy  for  him,  and  of  censure  for  the  govern 
ment  ;  his  removal  being  ascribed  to  jealousy  of  his 
popularity,  and  to  the  well-known  fact  that  his  policy 
in  regard  to  emancipation  was  in  advance  of  the  gov 
ernment  at  Washington. 

The  sharp  personal  discussions  which  were  thus  in 
augurated,  were  made  still  more  bitter,  by  denunciations 

*  See  page  288. 


502  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  General  Halleck's  course  in  excluding,  for  military 
reasons,  which  have  been  already  noticed,  fugitive 
slaves  from  our  lines,  and  by  the  contest  that  soon  came 
up  in  the  State  Convention,  on  the  general  subject  of 
emancipation.  On  the  7th  of  June,  1862,  a  bill  was  in 
troduced  into  the  Convention  by  Judge  Breckinridge, 
of  St.  Louis,  for  gradual  emancipation,  framed  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  President's 
message.  This  was,  however,  summarily  laid  on  the 
table,  but  was  revived,  on  the  13th,  by  a  special  mes 
sage  from  Governor  Gamble,  and  was  then  referred  to  a 
special  committee,  which  reported  resolutions,  recogniz 
ing  the  generous  nature  of  the  movement,  but  declining 
to  take  any  action  upon  it.  These  resolutions  were 
adopted. 

On  the  16th,  a  mass  convention  of  emancipationists, 
comprising  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  delegates  from 
twenty-five  counties,  met  at  Jefferson  City,  and  passed 
resolutions,  declaring  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  next 
Legislature  to  pass  laws  giving  effect  to  a  gradual  system 
of  emancipation  on  the  basis  proposed.  This  question, 
therefore,  became  the  leading  theme  of  controversy,  and 
the  key-note  of  the  ensuing  State  election,  resulting  in 
the  election  of  a  Legislature,  the  large  majority  of  which 
was  favorable  to  emancipation. 

During  the  summer,  the  State  was  overrun  with  rebel 
guerillas,  who  robbed  and  plundered  the  Unionists  ;  so 
that  Governor  Gamble  was  obliged  to  order  the  organi 
zation  of  the  entire  militia  of  the  State,  and  authorized 
General  Schofield  to  call  into  active  service  such  portions 
of  it  as  might  be  needed  to  put  down  the  marauders, 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  1863.      503 

and  defend  peaceable  and  loyal  citizens.  The  organiza 
tion  was  effected  with  promptness,  and  the  State  militia 
became  a  powerful  auxiliary  of  the  national  forces,  in 
clearing  all  sections  of  the  State  of  the  lawless  bands 
which  had  committed  so  many  outrages. 

On  the  19th  of  September,  the  States  of  Missouri, 
Kansas  and  Arkansas,  were  formed  into  a  military  dis 
trict,  of  which  the  command  was  assigned  to  General 
Curtis,  whose  sentiments  were  thoroughly  in  sympathy 
with  the  friends  of  immediate  emancipation,  and  the 
supporters  of  General  Fremont  in  his  differences  with 
the  government.  He  had  control  of  the  national  forces 
in  his  district,  but  not  of  the  State  militia. 

The  differences  of  political  sentiment  between  the  two 
wings  of  the  Union  party  of  the  State  were  repre 
sented,  to  some  extent,  by  two  organized  military 
forces ;  and  the  contest  between  them  was  waged  with 
increasing  bitterness,  to  the  great  embarrassment  of  the 
government  at  Washington,  and  to  the  injury  of  the 
Union  cause.  At  length,  in  the  spring  of  1863,  the 
President  removed  General  Curtis  from  his  command, 
and  appointed  General  Schofield  in  his  place.  This 
gave  rise  to  very  vehement  remonstrances  and  protests, 
to  one  of  which,  sent  by  telegraph,  the  President  made 
the  following  reply : 

"  Your  despatch  of  to-day  is  just  received.  It  is  very  pain 
ful  to  me  that  you,  in  Missouri,  cannot,  or  will  not,  settle  your 
factional  quarrel  among  yourselves.  I  have  been  tormented 
with  it  beyond  endurancer  for  months,  by  both  sides.  Neither 
side  pays  the  least  respect  to  my  appeals  to  your  reason.  I  am 
now  compelled  to  take  hold  of  the  case. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 


504  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

To  General  Schofield  himself,  the  President  soon  after 
addressed  the  following  letter  : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  May  27,  1863. 
"  GENERAL  J.  M.  SCHOFIELD  : 

"  DEAR  SIR  : — Having  removed  General  Curtis,  and  assigned 
you  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Missouri,  I 
think  it  may  be  of  some  advantage  to  me  to  state  to  you  why 
I  did  it.  I  did  not  remove  General  Curtis  because  of  my  full 
conviction  that  he  had  done  wrong  by  commission  or  omission. 
I  did  it  because  of  a  conviction  in  my  mind  that  the  Union 
men  of  Missouri,  constituting  when  united,  a  vast  majority  of 
the  people,  have  entered  into  a  persistent,  factious  quarrel, 
among  themselves,  General  Curtis,  perhaps  not  of  choice,  being 
the  head  of  one  faction,  and  Governor  Gamble  that  of  the 
other.  After  months  of  labor  to  reconcile  the  difficulty,  it 
seemed  to  grow  worse  and  worse,  until  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
break  it  up  somehow,  and  as  I  could  not  remove  Governor 
Gamble,  I  had  to  remove  General  Curtis.  Now  that  you  are  in 
the  position,  I  wish  you  to  undo  nothing  merely  becau.se 
General  Curtis  or  Governor  Gamble  did  it,  but  to  exercise  your 
own  judgment,  and  do  right  for  the  public  interest.  Let  your 
military  measures  be  strong  enough  to  repel  the  invaders  and 
keep  the  peace,  and  riot  so  strong  as  to  unnecessarily  harass 
and  persecute  the  people.  It  is  a  difficult  role,  and  so  much 
greater  will  be  the  honor  if  you  perform  it  well.  If  both 
factions,  or  neither,  shall  abuse  you,  you  will  probably  be  about 
right.  Beware  of  being  assailed  by  one  and  praised  by  the 
other.  Yours  truly, 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

This  action  gave  great  dissatisfaction  to  the  more  radi 
cal  Unionists  of  the  State.  They  had  long  been  anxious 
to  have  the  provisional  government,  of  which  Governor 
Gamble  was  the  executive  head,  set  aside  by  the 
national  authority,  and  the  control  of  the  State  vested 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  1863.      505 

in  a  military  governor  clothed  with  the  authority  which 
General  Fremont  had  assumed  to  exercise  by  his  procla 
mation  of  August  31st,  1861 ; — and  the  Germans,  in 
particular,  made  very  urgent  demands  for  the  restora 
tion  of  General  Fremont  himself.  Several  deputations 
visited  Washington  for  the  purpose  of  representing 
these  views  and  wishes  to  the  President,  and  also  of 
insisting  upon  sundry  changes  in  the  Cabinet;  the 
dismissal  of  General  Halleck  from  the  position  of  Com 
mander  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States ;  and  other 
matters  of  equal  importance. 

The  following  report  of  President  Lincoln's  reply 
to  these  various  requests,  was  made  by  a  member  of  a 
committee  appointed  at  a  mass  meeting,  composed 
mainly  of  Germans,  held  at  St.  Louis,  on  the  10th  of 
May,  1863,  and  although  made  by  a  person  opposed  to 
the  President's  action,  it  probably  affords  a  substantially 
correct  statement  of  his  remarks  : 

"  MESSRS.  EMILE  PRETORIOUS,  THEODORE  OLSHAUSEN,  E.  E. 

KOMBAUR,    ETC.: 

"  GENTLEMEN  : — During  a  professional  visit  to  Washington 
city,  I  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  com 
pliance  with  your  instructions,  a  copy  of  the  resolutions 
adopted  in  mass  meeting  at  St.  Louis  on  the  10th  of  May, 
1863,  and  I  requested  a  reply  to  the  suggestions  therein  con 
tained.  The  President,  after  a  careful  and  loud  reading  of  the 
whole  report  of  proceedings,  saw  proper  to  enter  into  a  conver 
sation  of  two  hours'  duration,  in  the  course  of  which  most  of 
the  topics  embraced  in  the  resolutions  and  other  subjects  were 
discussed. 

"  As  my  share  in  the  conversation  is  of  secondary  import 
ance,  I  propose  to  omit  it  entirely  in  this  report,  and  avoiding 


506  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

details,  to  communicate  to  you  the  substance  of  noteworthy 
remarks  made  by  the  President. 

"  1.  The  President  said  that  it  may  be  a  misfortune  for  the 
nation  that  he  was  elected  President.  But,  having  been  elected 
by  the  people,  he  meant  to  be  President,  and  perform  his  duty 
according  to  his  best  understanding,  if  he  had  to  die  for  it.  No 
general  will  be  removed,  nor  will  any  change  in  the  Cabinet  be 
made,  to  suit  the  views  or  wishes  of  any  particular  party,  fac 
tion  or  set  of  men.  General  Halleck  is  not  guilty  of  the 
charges  made  against  him,  most  of  which  arise  from  misappre 
hension  or  ignorance  of  those  who  prefer  them. 

"  2.  The  President  said  that  it  was  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
Generals  John  0.  Fremont,  B.  F.  Butler,  and  F.  Sigel  are 
'  systematically  kept  out  of  command,'  as  stated  in  the  fourth 
resolution;  that,  on  the  contrary,  he  fully  appreciated  the 
merits  of  the  gentlemen  named ;  that  by  their  own  actions  they 
had  placed  themselves  in  the  positions  which  they  occupied ; 
that  he  was  not  only  willing,  but  anxious  to  place  them  again 
in  command  as  soon  as  he  could  find  spheres  of  action  for 
them,  without  doing  injustice  to  others,  but  that  at  present  he 
1  had  more  pegs  than  holes  to  put  them  in.' 

"  3.  As  to  the  want  of  unity,  the  President,  without  admit 
ting  such  to  be  the  case,  intimated  that  each  member  of  the 
Cabinet  was  responsible  mainly  for  the  manner  of  conducting 
the  affairs  of  his  particular  department;  that  there  was  no 
centralization  of  responsibility  for  the  action  of  the  Cabinet 
anywhere,  except  in  the  President  himself. 

"4.  The  dissensions  between  Union  men  in  Missouri  are  due 
solely  to  a  factious  spirit  which  is  exceedingly  reprehensible. 
The  two  parties  '  ought  to  have  their  heads  knocked  together.' 
'  Either  would  rather  see  the  defeat  of  their  adversary  than 
that  of  Jefferson  Davis.'  To  this  spirit  of  faction  is  to  be 
ascribed  the  failure  of  the  Legislature  to  elect  Senators,  and  the 
defeat  of  the  Missouri  Aid  Bill  in  Congress,  the  passage  of 
which  the  President  strongly  desired. 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.       507 

"  The  President  said  that  the  Union  men  in  Missouri  who 
are  in  favor  of  gradual  emancipation  represented  his  views 
better  than  those  who  are  in  favor  of  immediate  emancipation. 
In  explanation  of  his  views  on  this  subject,  the  President  said 
that  in  his  speeches  he  had  frequently  used,  as  an  illustration, 
the  case  of  a  man  who  had  an  excrescence  on  the  back  of  his 
neck,  the  removal  of  which,  in  one  operation,  would  result  in 
the  death  of  the  patient,  while  'tinkering  it  off  by  degrees' 
would  preserve  life.  Although  sorely  tempted,  I  did  not  reply 
with  the  illustration  of  the  dog  whose  tail  was  amputated  by 
inches,  but  confined  myself  to  arguments.  The  President 
announced  clearly  that,  as  far  as  he  was  at  present  advised,  the 
Radicals  in  Missouri  had  no  right  to  consider  themselves  the  ex 
ponents  of  his  views  on  the  subject  of  emancipation  in  that  State. 

"  5.  General  Curtis  was  not  relieved  on  account  of  any  wrong 
act  or  great  mistake  committed  by  him.  The  system  of 
provost-marshals,  established  by  him  throughout  the  State, 
gave  rise  to  violent  complaint.  That  the  President  had  thought  at 
one  time  to  appoint  General  Fremont  in  his  place;  that  at 
another  time  he  had  thought  of  appointing  General  McDowell, 
whom  he  characterized  as  a  good  and  loyal,  though  very  un 
fortunate  soldier ;  and  that,  at  last,  General  Scho field  was  ap 
pointed,  with  a  view,  if  possible,  to  reconcile  and  satisfy  the 
two  factions  in  Missouri.  Pie  has  instructions  not  to  interfere 
with  either  party,  but  to  confine  himself  to  his  military  duties. 
I  assure  you,  gentlemen,  that  our  side  was  as  fully  presented 
as  the  occasion  permitted.  At  the  close  of  the  conversation, 
the  President  remarked  that  there  was  evidently  a  'serious 
misunderstanding  springing  up  between  him,  and  the  Germans 
of  St.  Louis,  which  he  would  like  to  see  removed.  Observing 
to  him  that  the  difference  of  opinion  related  to  facts,  men,  and 
measures,  I  withdrew. 

"  I  am  very  respectfully,  etc.,  JAMES  TAUSSIG." 

On  the  1st  of  July,  the  State  Convention  passed  an 


508  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

amendment  to  the  Constitution,  declaring  that  slavery 
should  cease  to  exist  in  Missouri  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1870,  with  certain  specified  exceptions.  The  demand, 
however,  was  made  for  immediate  emancipation,  and 
Governor  Gamble  and  the  members  of  the  provisional 
government  who  had  favored  the  policy  adopted  by  the 
State  Convention,  were  denounced  as  the  advocates  of 
slavery  and  allies  of  the  rebellion.  In  the  early  part 
of  August,  the  murderous  guerrilla  raid  into  the  town  of 
Lawrence,  Kansas,  aroused  the  most  intense  excitement 
in  the  adjoining  State  of  Missouri,  and  the  opponents 
of  the  provisional  government  siezed  the  occasion  to 
throw  upon  it  and  General  Schofield,  who  had  command 
of  the  State  militia  as  well  as  of  the  national  forces,  the 
responsibility  in  having  permitted  this  massacre  to  take 
place. 

At  a  mass  convention,  held  at  Jefferson  city,  on  the 
2d  of  September,  resolutions  were  adopted  denouncing 
the  military  policy  pursued  in  the  State  and  the  delega 
tion  of  military  powers  to  the  provisional  government. 
A  committee  of  one  from  each  county  was  appointed  to 
visit  Washington  and  lay  their  grievances  before  the 
President ;  and  in  the  latter  part  of  September  the  com 
mittee  had  an  interview  with  the  President,  in  which 
they  represented  Governor  Gamble  and  General  Scho 
field  as  in  virtual  alliance  with  the  rebels,  and  demanded 
the  removal  of  the  latter  as  an  act  of  justice  to  the 
loyal  and  anti-slavery  men  of  the  State.  The  committee 
also  held  public  meetings  in  several  of  the  northern 
cities,  for  the  purpose  of  enlisting  public  sentiment  in 
their  support ;  asserting  that  the  radical  emancipation 
party  was  the  only  one  which  represented  the  loyalty 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS  OF   1863.      509 

of  Missouri,  and  strongly  censuring  President  Lincoln 
for  "  closing  his  ears  to  just,  loyal,  and  patriotic  de 
mands  of  the  radical  party,  while  he  indorsed  the  dis 
loyal  and  oppressive  demands  of  Governor  Gamble, 
General  Schofield,  and  their  adherents." 

On  the  5th  of  October,  the  President  made  to  the 
representations  and  requests  of  the  Committee  the  fol 
lowing  reply : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Oct.  5th,  1863. 
"  HON.  CHARLES  DRAKE  and  others,  Committee : 

"  GENTLEMEN  : — Your  original  address,  presented  on  the  30th 
ult.,  and  the  four  supplementary  ones  presented  on  the  3d  inst., 
have  been  carefully  considered.  I  hope  you  will  regard  the 
other  duties  claiming  my  attention,  together  with  the  great 
length  and  importance  of  these  documents,  as  constituting  a 
sufficient  apology  for  my  not  having  responded  sooner. 

"  These  papers,  framed  for  a  common  object,  consist  of  the 
things  demanded,  and  the  reasons  for  demanding  them. 

"The  things  demanded  are : 

'  First,  That  General  Schofield  shall  be  relieved,  and  General 
Butler  be  appointed  as  Commander  of  the  military- department 
of  Missouri. 

"  Second,  That  the  system  of  enrolled  militia  in  Missouri  may 
be  broken  up,  and  national  forces  be  substituted  for  it ;  and, 

"  Third,  That  at  elections,  persons  may  not  be  allowed  to 
vote  who  are  not  entitled  by  law  to  do  so. 

"Among  the  reasons  given,  enough  of  suffering  and  wrong 
to  Union  men,  is  certainly,  and  I  suppose  truly,  stated.  Yet 
the  whole  case,  as  presented,  fails  to  convince  me  that  General 
Schofield,  or  the  enrolled  militia,  is  responsible  for  that  suffer 
ing  and  wrong.  The  whole  can  be  explained  on  a  more 
charitable,  and,  as  I  think,  a  more  rational  hypothesis. 

"  We  are  in  civil  war.     In  such  cases  there  always  is  a  main 


510  THE   LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

question ;  but  in  this  case  that  question  is  a  perplexing  com 
pound — Union  and  slavery.  It  thus  becomes  a  question  not  of 
two  sides  merely,  but  of  at  least  four  sides,  even  among  those 
who  are  for  the  Union,  saying  nothing  of  those  who  are  against 
it.  Thus,  those  who  are  for  the  Union  with,  but  not  without 
slavery — those  for  it  without  but  not  with — those  for  it  with  or 
without,  but  prefer  it  with,  and  those  for  it  with  or  without,  but 
prefer  it  without. 

"Among  these,  again,  is  a  subdivision  of  those  who  are  for 
gradual,  but  not  for  immediate,  and  those  who  are  for  immediate. 
but  not  for  gradual  extinction  of  slavery. 

"It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  all  these  shades  of  opinion  and 
even  more,  may  be  sincerely  entertained  by  honest  and  truthful 
men.  Yet,  all  being  for  the  Union,  by  reason  of  these  differ 
ences,  each  will  prefer  a  different  way  of  sustaining  the  Union. 
At  once,  sincerity  is  questioned,  and  motives  are  assailed. 
Actual  war  coming,  blood  grows  hot,  and  blood  is  spilled. 
Thought  is  forced  from  old  channels  into  confusion.  Decep 
tion  breeds  and  thrives.  Confidence  dies,  and  universal 
suspicion  reigns.  Bach  man  feels  an  impulse  to  kill  his 
neighbor,  lest  he  be  killed  by  him.  Eevenge  and  retaliation 
follow.  And  all  this,  as  before  said,  may  be  among  honest 
men  only.  But  this  is  not  all.  Every  foul  bird  comes  abroad, 
and  every  dirty  reptile  rises  up.  These  add  crime  to  confusion. 
Strong  measures  deemed  indispensable  but  harsh  at  best,  such 
men  make  worse  by  maladministration.  Murders  for  old  grudges, 
and  murders  for  pelf  proceed  under  any  cloak  that  will  best 
serve  for  the  occasion. 

"These  causes  amply  account  for  what  has  occurred  in 
Missouri,  without  ascribing  it  to  the  weakness  or  wickedness 
of  any  general.  The  newspaper  files,  those  chroniclers  of 
current  events,  will  show  that  the  evils  now  complained  of, 
were  quite  as  prevalent  under  Fremont,  Hunter,  Halleck,  and 
Curtis,  as  under  Schofield.  If  the  former  had  greater  force 
opposed  to  them,  they  also  had  greater  force  with  which  to 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.     511 

meet  it.  When  the  organized  rebel  army  left  the  State,  the 
main  Federal  force  had  to  go  also,  leaving  the  department  com 
mander  at  home,  relatively  no  stronger  than  before.  Without 
disparaging  any,  I  affirm  with  confidence,  that  no  commander 
of  that  department  has,  in  proportion  to  his  means,  done  better 
than  General  Schofield. 

"  The  first  specific  charge  against  General  Schofield  is,  that 
the  enrolled  militia  was  placed  under  his  command,  whereas  it 
had  not  been  placed  under  the  command  of  General  Curtis. 
The  fact  is,  I  believe,  true ;  but  you  do  not  point  out,  nor  can  I 
conceive,  how  that  did,  or  could,  injure  loyal  men  or  the  Union 
cause. 

"You  charge  that  General  Curtis  being  superseded  by 
General  Schofield,  Franklin  A.  Dick  was  superseded  by  Jarnes 
0.  Broadhead  as  Provost-Marshal-General.  No  very  specific 
showing  is  made  as  to  how  this  did  or  could  injure  the  Union 
cause.  It  recalls,  however,  the  condition  of  things,  as  presented 
to  me,  which  led  to  a  change  of  commander  of  that  depart 
ment. 

"  To  restrain  contraband  intelligence  and  trade,  a  system  of 
searches,  seizures,  permits  and  passes,  had  been  introduced,  I 
think,  by  General  Fremont.  When  General  Halleck  came,  he 
found  and  continued  the  system,  and  added  an  order,  applicable 
to  some  parts  of  the  State,  to  levy  and  collect  contributions 
from  noted  rebels,  to  compensate  losses,  and  relieve  destitution 
caused  by  the  rebellion.  The  action  of  General  Fremont  and 
General  Halleck,  as  stated,  constituted  a  sort  of  system  which 
General  Curtis  found  in  full  operation  when  he  took  command 
of  the  department.  That  there  was  a  necessity  for  something 
of  the  sort  was  clear ;  but  that  it  could  only  be  justified  by 
stern  necessity,  and  that  it  was  liable  to  great  abuse  in  admin 
istration,  was  equally  clear.  Agents  to  execute  it,  contrary  to 
the  great  prayer,  were  led  into  temptation.  Some  might,  while 
others  would  not,  resist  that  temptation.  It  was  not  possible  to 
hold  any  to  a  very  strict  accountability ;  and  those  yielding  to 


512  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  temptation,  would  sell  permits  and  passes  to  those  who 
would  pay  most  and  most  readily  for  them ;  and  would  seize 
property  and  collect  levies  in  the  aptest  way  to  fill  their  own 
pockets.  Money  being  the  object,  the  man  having  money, 
whether  loyal  or  disloyal,  would  be  a  victim.  This  practice 
doubtless  existed  to  some  extent,  and  it  was  a  real  additional 
evil,  that  it  could  be,  and  was  plausibly  charged  to  exist  in 
greater  extent  than  it  did. 

"  When  General  Curtis  took  command  of  the  department, 
Mr.  Dick,  against  whom  I  never  knew  any  thing  to  allege,  had 
general  charge  of  this  system.  A  controversy  in  regard  to  it 
rapidly  grew  into  almost  unmanageable  proportions.  One  side 
ignored  the  necessity  and  magnified  the  evils  of  the  system, 
while  the  other  ignored  the  evils  and  magnified  the  necessity ; 
and  each  bitterly  assailed  the  other.  I  could  not  fail  to  see 
that  the  controversy  enlarged  in  the  same  proportion  as  the 
professed  Union  men  there  distinctly  took  sides  in  two  oppos 
ing  political  parties.  I  exhausted  my  wits,  and  very  nearly 
my  patience  also,  in  efforts  to  convince  both  that  the  evils  they 
charged  on  each  other  were  inherent  in  the  case,  and  could  not 
be  cured  by  giving  either  party  a  victory  over  the  other. 

"  Plainly,  the  irritating  system  was  not  to  be  perpetual ;  and 
it  was  plausibly  urged  that  it  could  be  modified  at  once  with 
advantage.  The  case  could  scarcely  be  worse,  and  whether  it 
could  be  made  better  could  only  be  determined  by  a  trial.  In  this 
view,  and  not  to  ban,  or  brand  General  Curtis,  or  to  give  a 
victory  to  any  party,  I  made  the  change  of  commander  for  the 
department.  I  now  learn  that  soon  after  this  change  Mr.  Dick 
was  removed,  and  that  Mr.  Broadhead,  a  gentleman  of  no  less 
good  character,  was  put  in  the  place.  The  mere  fact  of  this 
change  is  more  distinctly  complained  of  than  is  any  conduct 
of  the  new  officer,  or  other  consequences  of  the  change. 

"  I  gave  the  new  commander  no  instructions  as  to  the  admin 
istration  of  the  system  mentioned,  beyond  what  is  contained  in 
the  private  letter  afterward  surreptitiously  published,  in  which 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      513 

I  directed  Mm  to  act  solely  for  the  public  good,  and  indepen 
dently  of  both  parties.  Neither  any  thing  you  have  presented 
me,  nor  any  thing  I  have  otherwise  learned,  has  convinced  me 
that  he  has  been  unfaithful  to  this  charge. 

"'Imbecility  is  urged  as  one  cause  for  removing  General 
Schofield,  and  the  late  massacre  at  Lawrence,  Kansas,  is 
pressed  as  evidence  of  that  imbecility.  To  my  mind  that  fact 
scarcely  tends  to  prove  the  proposition.  That  massacre  is  only 
an  example  of  what  Grierson,  John  Morgan,  and  many  others, 
might  have  repeatedly  done  on  their  respective  raids,  had  they 
chosen  to  incur  the  personal  hazard,  and  possessed  the  fiendish 
hearts  to  do  it. 

"  The  charge  is  made  that  General  Schofield,  on  purpose  to 
protect  the  Lawrence  murderers,  would  not  allow  them  to  be  pur 
sued  into  Missouri.  While  no  punishment  could  be  too  sudden 
or  too  severe  for  those  murderers,  I  am  well  satisfied  that  the 
preventing  of  the  threatened  remedial  raid  into  Missouri  was 
the  only  way  to  avoid  an  indiscriminate  massacre  there,  includ 
ing  probably  more  innocent  than  guilty.  Instead  of  condemn 
ing,  I  therefore  approve  what  I  understand  General  Schofield 
did  in  that  respect. 

"The  charge  that  General  Schofield  has  purposely  withheld 
protection  from  loyal  people,  and  purposely  facilitated  the 
objects  of  the  disloyal,  are  altogether  beyond  my  power  of 
belief.  I  do  not  arraign  the  veracity  of  gentlemen  as  to  the 
facts  complained  of;  but  I  do  more  than  question  the  judgment 
which  would  infer  that  these  facts  occurred  in  accordance  with 
the  purposes  of  General  Schofield. 

"  With  my  present  views,  I  must  decline  to  remove  General 
Schofield.  In  this  I  decide  nothing  against  General  Butler. 
I  sincerely  wish  it  were  convenient  to  assign  him  a  suitable 
command. 

"  In  order  to  meet  some  existing  evils,  I  have  addressed  a 
letter  of  instruction  to  General  Schofield,  a  copy  of  which  I 
inclose  to  you.  As  to  the  '  Enrolled  Militia,'  I  shall  endeavor 
33 


514  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

to  ascertain,  better  than  I  now  know,  what  is  its  exact  value. 
Let  me  now  say,  however,  that  your  proposal  to  substitute 
national  force  for  the  '  Enrolled  Militia,'  implies  that,  in  your 
judgment,  the  latter  is  doing  something  which  needs  to  be  done  ; 
and  if  so,  the  proposition  to  throw  that  force  away,  and  to 
supply  its  place  by  bringing  other  forces  from  the  field  where 
they  are  urgently  needed,  seems  to  me  very  extraordinary. 
Whence  shall  they  come  ?  Shall  they  be  withdrawn  from 
Banks,  or  Grant,  or  Steele,  or  Eosecrans  ? 

"  Few  things  have  been  so  grateful  to  my  anxious  feelings,  as 
when,  in  June  last,  the  local  force  in  Missouri  aided  General 
Schofield  to  so  promptly  send  a  large  general  force  to  the 
relief  of  General  Grant,  then  investing  Yicksburg,  and  menaced 
from  without  by  General  Johnson.  Was  this  all  wrong? 
Should  the  enrolled  militia  then  have  been  broken  up,  and 
General  Herron  kept  from  Grant,  to  police  Missouri  ?  So  far 
from  finding  cause  to  object,  I  confess  to  a  sympathy  for  what 
ever  relieves  our  general  force  in  Missouri,  and  allows  it  to 
serve  elsewhere. 

"  I  therefore,  as  at  present  advised,  cannot  attempt  the  de 
struction  of  the  enrolled  militia  of  Missouri.  I  may  add  that, 
the  force  being  under  the  national  military  control,  it  is  also 
within  the  proclamation  with  regard  to  the  habeas  corpus. 

"I  concur  in  the  propriety  of  your  request  in  regard  to 
elections,  and  have,  as  you  see,  directed  General  Schofield  ac 
cordingly.  I  do  not  feel  justified  to  enter  upon  the  broad  field 
you  present  in  regard  to  the  political  differences  between  Kadi- 
cals  and  Conservatives.  From  time  to  time  I  have  done  and 
said  what  appeared  to  me  proper  to  do  and  say.  The  public 
knows  it  well.  It  obliges  nobody  to  follow  me,  and  I  trust 
it  obliges  me  to  follow  nobody.  The  Radicals  and  Conserva 
tives  each  agree  with  me  in  some  things  and  disagree  in  others. 
I  could  wish  both  to  agree  with  me  in  all  things ;  for  then  they 
would  agree  with  each  other,  and  would  be  too  strong  for  any 
foe  from  any  quarter.  They,  however,  choose  to  do  otherwise, 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.       515 

and  I  do  not  question  their  right.  I,  too,  shall  do  what  seems 
to  be  my  duty.  I  hold  whoever  commands  in  Missouri  or  else 
where  responsible  to  me,  and  not  to  either  Eadicals  or  Conser 
vatives.  It  is  my  duty  to  hear  all ;  but,  at  last,  I  must,  within 
my  sphere,  judge  what  to  do  and  what  to  forbear. 

"  Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN." 

INSTRUCTIONS   TO   GENERAL   SCHOFIELD. 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Oct.  1,  1863. 

"  General  JOHN  M.  SCHOFIELD  : — There  is  no  organized  mili 
tary  force  in  avowed  opposition  to  the  General  Government  now 
in  Missouri,  and  if  any  shall  reappear,  your  duty  in  regard  to 
it  will  be  too  plain  to  require  any  special  instruction.  Still, 
the  condition  of  things,  both  there  and  elsewhere,  is  such  as  to 
render  it  indispensable  to  maintain,  for  a  time,  the  United 
States  military  establishment  in  that  State,  as  well  as  to  rely 
upon  it  for  a  fair  contribution  of  support  to  that  establishment 
generally.  Your  immediate  duty  in  regard  to  Missouri  now  is 
to  advance  the  efficiency  of  that  establishment,  and  to  so  use  it, 
as  far  as  practicable,  to  compel  the  excited  people  there  to  let 
one  another  alone. 

"  Under  your  recent  order,  which  I  have  approved,  you  will 
only  arrest  individuals,  and  suppress  assemblies  or  newspapers, 
when  they  may  be  working  palpable  injury  to  the  military  in 
your  charge  ;  and  in  no  other  case  will  you  interfere  with  the 
expression  of  opinion  in  any  form,  or  allow  it  to  be  interfered 
with  violently  by  others.  In  this  you  have  a  discretion  to 
exercise  with  great  caution,  calmness,  and  forbearance. 

"With  the  matter  of  removing  the  inhabitants  of  certain 
counties  en  masse,  and  of  removing  certain  individuals  from 
time  to  time,  who  are  supposed  to  be  mischievous,  I  am  not 
now  interfering,  but  am  leaving  to  your  own  discretion. 

"  Nor  am  I  interfering  with  what  may  still  seem  to  you  to 
be  necessary  restrictions  upon  trade  and  intercourse.  I  think 


516  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

proper,  however,  to  enjoin  upon  you  the  following :  Allow  no 
part  of  the  military  under  your  command  to  be  engaged  in 
either  returning  fugitive  slaves,  or  in  forcing  or  enticing  slaves 
from  their  homes ;  and,  so  far  as  practicable,  enforce  the  same 
forbearance  upon  the  people. 

"  Eeport  to  me  your  opinion  upon  the  availability  for  good 
of  the  enrolled  militia  of  the  State.  Allow  no  one  to  enlist 
colored  troops,  except  upon  orders  from  you,  or  from  here 
through  you. 

"  Allow  no  one  to  assume  the  functions  of  confiscating  pro 
perty,  under  the  law  of  Congress,  or  otherwise,  except  upon 
O'ders  from  here. 

"At  elections  see  that  those,  and  only  those,  are  allowed  to 
vote,  who  are  entitled  to  do  so  by  the  laws  of  Missouri,  includ 
ing  as  of  those  laws  the  restrictions  laid  by  the  Missouri  Con 
vention  upon  those  who  may  have  participated  in  the  rebellion. 

"  So  far  as  practicable,  you  will,  by  means  of  your  militar}^ 
force,  expel  guerrillas,  marauders,  and  murderers,  and  all  who 
are  known  to  harbor,  aid,  or  abet  them.  But  in  like  manner 
you  will  repress  assumptions  of  unauthorized  individuals  to 
perform  the  same  service,  because  under  pretence  of  doing  this 
they  become  marauders  and  murderers  themselves. 

"  To  now  restore  peace,  let  the  military  obey  orders ;  and 
those  not  of  the  military  leave  each  other  alone,  thus  not  break 
ing  the  peace  themselves. 

"  In  giving  the  above  directions,  it  is  not  intended  to  restrain 
you  in  other  expedient  and  necessary  matters  not  falling  within 
their  range.  Your  obedient  servant, 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

The  condition  of  affairs  in  this  department,  however, 
continued  to  be  so  greatly  disturbed  by  political  agita 
tions,  and  the  personal  controversies  to  which  they  gave 
rise,  that  after  a  lapse  of  some  months,  the  President 
thought  best  to  relieve  General  Schofield  from  further 


TUE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      517 

command  in  this  department,  and  General  Eosecrans 
was  appointed  in  his  place.  In  his  order  assuming 
command,  dated  January  30th,  1864,  General  Rosecrans 
paid  a  very  high  compliment  to  his  predecessor  for  the 
admirable  order  in  which  he  found  the  business  of  the 
department,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  he  might  re 
ceive  "  the  honest,  firm,  and  united  support  of  all  true 
national  and  Union  men  of  the  department,  without 
regard  to  politics,  creed,  or  party,  in  his  endeavors 
to  maintain  law  and  re-establish  peace  and  secure  pros 
perity  throughout  its  limits." 

During  the  year,  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  Empe 
ror  of  the  French  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  Russia 
and  England  in  a  joint  effort  at  co-operation  between 
the  United  States  government  and  the  rebel  authorities. 
The  attempt  failed,  owing  to  the  unwillingness  of  the 
two  latter  powers  to  join  in  the  contemplated  mediation; 
and  the  French  government,  thereupon,  undertook  the 
matter  alone.  Accordingly,  on  the  9th  of  January, 
1863,  it  communicated  to  its  minister  at  Washington 
the  readiness  of  the  Emperor  to  do  any  thing  in  his 
power  which  might  tend  towards  the  termination  of 
the  war.  The  advantages  of  the  proposed  mediation 
and  conference  between  the  United  States  and  its  re 
bellious  States,  were  thus  set  forth  in  this  dispatch  : 

"  Representatives  or  commissioners  of  the  two  parties  could 
assemble  at  such  point  as  it  should  be  deemed  proper  to  desig 
nate,  and  which  could,  for  this  purpose,  be  declared  neutral. 
Reciprocal  complaints  would  be  examined  into  at  this  meeting. 
In  place  of  the  accusations  which  North  and  South  mutually 
cast  upon  each  other  at  this  time,  would  be  substituted  an 
argumentative  discussion  of  the  interests  which  divide  them. 


518  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

They  would  seek  out  by  means  of  well  ordered  and  profound 
deliberations  whether  these  interests  are  definitively  irrecon 
cilable — whether  separation  is  an  extreme  which  can  no  longer 
be  avoided,  or  whether  the  memories  of  a  common  existence, 
whether  the  ties  of  any  kind  which  have  made  of  the  North  and 
of  the  South  one  sole  and  whole  Federative  State,  and  havo 
borne  them  on  to  so  high  a  degree  of  prosperity,  are  not  more 
powerful  than  the  causes  which  have  placed  arms  in  the  hands 
of  the  two  populations.  A  negotiation,  the  object  of  which 
would  be  thus  determinate,  would  not  involve  any  of  the  objec 
tions  raised  against  the  diplomatic  interventions  of  Europe,  and, 
without  giving  birth  to  the  same  hopes  as  the  immediate  con 
clusion  of  an  armistice,  would  exercise  a  happy  influence  on 
the  march  of  events. 

"  Why,  therefore,  should  not  a  combination  which  respects 
all  the  relations  of  the  United  States  obtain  the  approbation  of 
the  Federal  Government  ?  Persuaded  on  our  part  that  it  is  in 
conformity  with  their  true  interests,  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
recommend  it  to  their  attention  ;  and,  not  having  sought  in  the 
project  of  a  mediation  of  the  maritime  powers  of  Europe  any 
vain  display  of  influence,  we  would  applaud,  with  entire  free 
dom  from  all  susceptibility  of  self-esteem,  the  opening  of  a 
negotiation  which  would  invite  the  two  populations  to  discuss, 
without  the  co-operation  of  Europe,  the  solution  of  their  differ- 


To  this,  the  President  made  a  reply,  which  embraces 
so  many  points  of  permanent  interest  and  importance 
in  connection  with  the  policy  of  his  administration,  that 
it  is  well  worthy  of  a  place  in  his  biography. 

"  DEPAKTMENT  OF  STATE,  WASHINGTON,  Feb.  6,  1863. 
"  SIK: — The  intimation  given  in  your  dispatch  of  January  15th; 
that  I  might  expect  a  special  visit  from  M.  Mercier,  has  been 
realized.     He  called  on  the  3d  instant,  and  gave  me  a  copy  of 


THE    POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF  18G3.      519 

a  dispatch  which  he  had  just  then  received  from  M.  Drouyn  de 
1'Huys  under  the  date  of  the  9th  of  January. 

"  I  have  taken  the  President's  instructions,  and  I  now  proceed 
to  give  you  his  views  upon  the  subject  in  question. 

"  It  has  been  considered  with  seriousness,  resulting  from  the 
reflection  that  the  people  of  France  are  known  to  be  faultless 
sharers  with  the  American  nation  in  the  misfortunes  and 
calamities  of  our  unhappy  civil  war  •  nor  do  we  on  this,  any 
more  than  on  other  occasions,  forget  the  traditional  friendship 
of  the  two  countries,  which  we  unhesitatingly  believe  has 
inspired  the  counsels  that  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  has  imparted. 

"He  says,  'the  Federal  Government  does  not  despair,  we. 
know,  of  giving  more  active  impulse  to  hostilities ;'  and  agafa 
he  remarks,  '  the  protraction  of  the  struggle,  in  a  word,  has  not 
shaken  the-  confidence  (of  the  Federal  Government)  iu  the 
definitive  success  of  its  efforts.' 

"  These  passages  seem  to  me  to  do  unintentional  injustice  to 
the  language,  whether  confidential  or  public,  in  which  this 
government  has  constantly  spoken  on  the  subject  of  the  war. 
It  certainly  has  had  and  avowed  only  one  purpose — a  determi 
nation  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  country.  So  far  from 
admitting  any  laxity  of  effort,  or  betraying  any  despondency, 
the  government  has,  on  the  contrary,  borne  itself  cheerfully  in 
all  vicissitudes,  with  unwavering  confidence  in  an  early  and 
complete  triumph  of  the  national  cause.  Now,  when  we 
are,  in  a  manner,  invited  by  a  friendly  power  to  review  the 
twenty-one  months'  history  of  the  conflict,  we  find  no  occasion 
to  abate  that  confidence.  Through  such  an  alternation  of 
victories  and  defeats  as  is  the  appointed  incident  of  every  war, 
the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  have  steadily 
advanced,  reclaiming  from  the  insurgents  the  ports,  forts,  and 
posts  which  they  had  treacherously  seized  before  the  strife 
actually  began,  and  even  before  it  was  seriously  apprehended. 
So  many  of  the  States  and  districts  which  the  insurgents 
included  in  the  field  of  their  projected  exclusive  slaveholding 


520  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

dominions  have  already  been  re-established  under  the  flag  of 
the  Union,  that  they  now  retain  only  the  States  of  Georgia, 
Alabama,  and  Texas,  with  half  of  Virginia,  half  of  North 
Carolina,  and  two-thirds  of  South  Carolina,  half  of  Mississippi, 
and  one -third  respectively  of  Arkansas  and  Louisiana.  The 
national  forces  hold  even  this  small  territory  in  close  blockade 
and  siege. 

"  This  government,  if  required,  does  not  hesitate  to  submit 
its  achievements  to  the  test  of  comparison;  and  it  maintains 
that  in  no  part  of  the  world,  and  in  no  times,  ancient  or 
modern,  has  a  nation,  when  rendered  all  unready  for  combat  by 
the  enjoyment  of  eighty  years  of  almost  unbroken  peace 
so  quickly  awakened  at  the  alarm  of  sedition,  put  forth  energies 
so  vigorous,  and  achieved  successes  so  signal  and  effective 
as  those  which  have  marked  the  progress  of  this  contest  on  the 
part  of  the  Union. 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys,  I  fear,  has  taken  other  light  than  the 
correspondence  of  this  government  for  his  guidance  in  ascer 
taining  its  temper  and  firmness.  He  has  probably  read  of 
divisions  of  sentiment  among  those  who  hold  themselves  forth 
as  organs  of  public  opinion  here,  and  has  given  to  them 
an  undue  importance.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  this  is 
a  nation  of  thirty  millions,  civilly  divided  into  forty-one  States 
and  Territories,  which  cover  an  expanse  hardly  less  than 
Europe ;  that  the  people  are  a  pure  democracy,  exercising 
everywhere  the  utmost  freedom  of  speech  and  suffrage ;  that  a 
great  crisis  necessarily  produces  vehement  as  well  as  profound 
debate,  with  sharp  collisions  of  individual,  local,  and  sectional 
interests,  sentiments,  and  ambitions ;  and  that  this  heat  of  con 
troversy  is  increased  by  the  intervention  of  speculations, 
interests,  prejudices,  and  passions  from  every  other  part  of  the 
civilized  world.  It  is,  however,  through  such  debates  that  the 
agreement  of  the  nation  upon  any  subject  is  habitually 
attained,  its  resolutions  formed,  and  its  policy  established. 
"While  there  has  been  much  difference  of  popular  opinion  and 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF    1863.      521 

favor  concerning  the  agents  who  shall  carry  on  the  war, 
the  principles  on  which  it  shall-  be  waged,  and  the  means 
with  which  it  shall  be  prosecuted,  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  has 
only  to  refer  to  the  statute  book  of  Congress  and  the  executive 
ordinances,  to  learn  that  the  national  activity  has  hitherto 
been,  and  yet  is,  as  efficient  as  that  of  any  other  nation,  what 
ever  its  form  of  government,  ever  was,  under  circumstances  of 
equally  grave  import  to  its  peace,  safety,  and  welfare.  Not  one 
voice  has  been  raised  anywhere,  out  of  the  immediate  field  of 
the  insurrection,  in  favor  of  foreign  intervention,  of  mediation, 
of  arbitration,  or  of  compromise,  with  the  relinquishment 
of  one  acre  of  the  national  domain,  or  the  surrender  of  even 
one  constitutional  franchise.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  manifest 
to  the  world  that  our  resources  are  yet  abundant,  and  our 
credit  adequate  to  the  existing  emergency. 

"  What  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  suggests,  is  that  this  govern 
ment  shall  appoint  commissioners  to  meet,  on  neutral  ground, 
commissioners  of  the  insurgents.  He  supposes  that  in  the 
conferences  to  be  thus  held,  reciprocal  complaints  could  be 
discussed,  and  in  place  of  the  accusations  which  the  North  and 
South  now  mutually  cast  upon  each  other,  the  conferees  would 
be  engaged  with  discussions  of  the  interests  which  divide  them. 
He  assumes,  further,  that  the  commissioners  would  seek  by 
means  of  well-ordered  and  profound  deliberation,  whether 
these  interests  are  definitively  irreconcilable,  whether  separation 
is  an  extreme  that  can  no  longer  be  avoided,  or  whether 
the  memories  of  a  common  existence,  the  ties  of  every  kind 
which  have  made  the  North  and  the  South  one  whole  Fede 
rative  State,  and  have  borne  them  on  to  so  high  a  degree 
of  prosperity,  are  not  more  powerful  than  the  causes  which 
have  placed  arms  in  the  hands  of  the  two  populations. 

"  The  suggestion  is  not  an  extraordinary  one,  and  it  may  well 
have  been  thought  by  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  in  the 
earnestness  of  his  benevolent  desire  for  the  restoration  of 
peace,  a  feasible  one.  But  when  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  shall 


522  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

come  to  review  it  in  the  light  in  which  it  must  necessarily  be 
examined  in  this  country,  I  think  he  can  hardly  fail  to  perceive 
that  it  amounts  to  nothing  less  than  a  proposition  that,  while 
this  government  is  engaged  in  suppressing  an  armed  insurrec 
tion,  with  the  purpose  of  maintaining  the  constitutional  national 
authority,  and  preserving  the  integrity  of  the  country,  it  shall 
enter  into  diplomatic  discussion  with  the  insurgents  upon  the 
questions  whether  that  authority  shall  not  be  renounced,  and 
whether  the  country  shall  not  be  delivered  over  to  disunion,  to 
be  quickly  followed  by  ever-increasing  anarchy. 

"If  it  were  possible  for  the  government  of  the  United  States 
to  compromise  the  national  authority  so  far  as  to  enter  into 
such  debates,  it  is  not  easy  to  perceive  what  good  results  could 
be  obtained  by  them. 

"  The  commissioners  must  agree  in  recommending  either 
that  the  Union  shall  stand,  or  that  it  shall  be  voluntarily 
dissolved ;  or  else  they  must  leave  the  vital  question  unsettled, 
to  abide  at  last  the  fortunes  of  the  war.  The  government  has 
not  shut  out  the  knowledge  of  the  present  temper,  any  more 
than  of  the  past  purposes  of  the  insurgents.  There  is  not  the 
least  ground  to  suppose  that  the  controlling  actors  would 
be  persuaded  at  this  moment,  by  any  arguments  which  national 
commissioners  could  offer,  to  forego  the  ambition  that  has 
impelled  them  to  the  disloyal  position  they  are  occupying. 
Any  commissioners  who  should  be  appointed  by  these  actors, 
or  through  their  dictation  or  influence,  must  enter  the  confer 
ence  imbued  with  the  spirit,  and  pledged  to  the  personal 
fortunes  of  the  insurgent  chiefs.  The  loyal  people  in  the  insur 
rectionary  States  would  be  unheard,  and  any  offer  of  peace  by 
this  government,  on  the  condition  of  the  maintenance  of  the 
Union,  must  necessarily  be  rejected. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  this  govern 
ment  has  not  the  least  thought  of  relinquishing  the  trust  which 
has  been  confided  to  it  by  the  nation  under  the  most  solemn  of 
all  political  sanctions ;  and  if  it  had  any  such  thought,  it  would 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      523 

still  have  abundant  reason  to  know  that  peace  proposed  at  the 
cost  of  dissolution  would  be  immediately,  unreservedly,  and 
indignantly  rejected  by  the  American  people.  It  is  a  great 
mistake  that  European  statesmen  make,  if  they  suppose  this 
people  are  demoralized.  Whatever,  in  the  case  of  an  insur 
rection,  the  people  of  France,  or  of  Great  Britain,  or  of 
Switzerland,  or  of  the  Netherlands,  would  do  to  save  their 
national  existence,  no  matter  how  the  strife  might  be  regarded 
by,  or  might  affect  foreign  nations,  just  so  much,  and  certainly 
no  less,  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  do,  if  necessary,  to 
save  for  the  common  benefit  the  region  which  is  bounded  by 
the  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic  coasts,  and  by  the  shores  of  the 
Gulfs  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Mexico,  together  with  the  free  and 
common  navigation  of  the  Eio  Grande,  Missouri,  Arkansas, 
Mississippi,  Ohio,  St.  Lawrence,  Hudson,  Delaware,  Potomac, 
and  other  natural  highways  by  which  this  land,  which  to  them 
is  at  once  a  land  of  inheritance  and  a  land  of  promise,  is 
opened  and  watered.  Even  if  the  agents  of  the  American 
people  now  exercising  their  power  should,  through  fear  or 
faction,  fall  below  this  height  of  the  national  virtue,  they  would 
be  speedily,  yet  constitutionally,  replaced  by  others  of  sterner 
character  and  patriotism. 

"  I  must  be  allowed  to  say,  also,  that  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys 
errs  in  his  description  of  the  parties  to  the  present  conflict. 
We  have  here,  in  the  political  sense,  no  North  and  South, 
no  Northern  and  Southern  States.  We  have  an  insurrectionary 
party,  which  is  located  chiefly  upon  and  adjacent  to  the  shore 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  and  we  have,  on  the  other  hand,  a 
loyal  people,  who  constitute  not  only  northern  States,  but  also 
eastern,  middle,  western,  and  southern  States. 

"I  have,  on  many  occasions  heretofore,  submitted  to  the 
French  government  the  President's  views  of  the  interests,  and 
the  ideas  more  effective  for  the  time  than  even  interests,  which 
lie  at  the  bottom  of  the  determination  of  the  American 
government  and  people  to  maintain  the  Federal  Union.  The 


524  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

President  has  done  the  same  thing  in  his  messages  and  other 
public  declarations.  I  refrain,  therefore,  from  reviewing  that 
argument  in  connection  with  the  existing  question. 

"M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  draws  to  his  aid  the  conferences 
which  took  place  between  the  Colonies  and  Great  Britain  in 
our  revolutionary  war.  He  will  allow  us  to  assume  that  action 
in  the  crisis  of  a  nation  must  accord  with  its  necessities,  and 
therefore  can  seldom  be  conformed  to  precedents.  Great 
Britain,  when  entering  on  the  negotiations,  had  manifestly  come 
to  entertain  doubts  of  her  ultimate  success ;  and  it  is  certain 
that  the  councils  of  the  Colonies  could  not  fail  to  take  new 
courage,  if  not  to  gain  other  advantage,  when  the  parent  State 
compromised  so  far  as  to  treat  of  peace  on  the  terms  of 
conceding  their  independence. 

"  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  peace  must  come  at  some  time,  and 
that  conferences  must  attend,  if  they  are  not  allowed  to  precede 
the  pacification.  There  is,  however,  a  better  form  for  such 
conferences  than  the  one  which  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  suggests. 
The  latter  would  be  palpably  in  derogation  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  would  carry  no  weight,  because  desti 
tute  of  the  sanction  necessary  to  bind  either  the  disloyal  or  the 
loyal  portions  of  the  people.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  furnishes  a  constitutional  forum  for  debates 
between  the  alienated  parties.  Senators  and  Representatives 
from  the  loyal  portion  of  the  people  are  there  already,  freely 
empowered  to  confer ;  and  seats  also  are  vacant,  and  inviting 
senators  and  representatives  of  this  discontented  party  who  may 
be  constitutionally  sent  there  from  the  States  involved  in  the  in 
surrection.  Moreover,  the  conferences  which  can  thus  be  held 
in  Congress  have  this  great  advantage  over  any  that  could  be 
organized  upon  the  plan,  of  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys,  namely,  that 
the  Congress,  if  it  were  thought  wise,  could  call  a  national  con 
vention  to  adopt  its  recommendations,  and  give  them  all  the 
solemnity  and  binding  force  of  organic  law.  Such  conferences 
between  the  alienated  parties  may  be  said  to  have  already 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.     525 

begun.  Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Mis 
souri — States  which  are  claimed  by  the  insurgents — are  already 
represented  in  Congress,  and  submitting  with  perfect  freedom 
and  in  a  proper  spirit  their  advice  upon  the  course  best  calcu 
lated  to  bring  about,  in  the  shortest  time,  a  firm,  lasting,  and 
honorable  peace.  Kepresentatives  have  been  sent  also  from 
Louisiana,  and  others  are  understood  to  be  coming  from 
Arkansas. 

"  There  is  a  preponderating  argument  in  favor  of  the  Con 
gressional  form  of  conference  over  that  which  is  suggested  by 
M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys,  namely,  that  while  an  accession  to  the 
latter  would  bring  this  Government  into  a  concurrence  with  the 
insurgents  in  disregarding  and  setting  aside  an  important  part 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  so  would  be  of 
pernicious  example,  the  Congressional  conference,  on  the  con 
trary,  preserves  and  gives  new  strength  to  that  sacred  writing 
which  must  continue  through  future  ages  the  sheet  anchor  of 
the  republic. 

"  You  will  be  at  liberty  to  read  this  despatch  to  M.  Drouyn 
de  1'Huys,  and  to  give  him  a  copy  if  he  shall  desire  it. 

"  To  the  end  that  you  may  be  informed  of  the  whole  case,  I 
transmit  a  copy  of  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys7  despatch. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD." 

This  despatch  had  the  effect  of  promptly  putting  an 
end  to  all  talk  of  foreign  intervention  in  any  form.  Its 
closing  suggestions  relative  to  the  mode  in  which  the 
southern  States  could  resume  their  former  relations  to 
Federal  Government,  were  naturally  taken  as  signifi 
cant  indications  of  the  policy  of  the  Administration  in 
case  of  restoration ;  and,  while  sharply  assailed  in  some 
quarters,  called  forth  the  cordial  approbation  of  the 
people  throughout  the  country. 


526  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  subject  of  appointing  commissioners  to  confer 
with  the  rebel  authorities  had  frequently  been  discussed 
previous  to  this  correspondence,  but  the  proposition  had 
generally  emanated  from  the  opposition  party,  by  whom 
it  was  represented  that  the  rebels  were  only  restrained 
from  abandoning  the  contest  by  the  refusal  of  the 
national  government  to  furnish  them  an  opportunity  of 
doing  so  without  undue  humiliation  and  dishonor.  So 
long  before  as  December,  1862,  the  Hon.  Fernando 
Wood,  of  New  York,  advised  the  President  that  he  had 
reason  to  believe  that  the  southern  States  would  "  send 
representatives  to  the  next  Congress,  provided  a  full  and 
general  amnesty  should  permit  them  to  do  so,"  and 
suggesting  the  appointment  of  commissioners  empowered 
to  ascertain  the  truth  of  these  assurances. 

The  reply  of  the  President  was  characteristically 
frank,  but  cautious : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Dec.  12th,  1862. 
"  HON.  FERNANDO  WOOD  : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — Your  letter  of  the  8th,  with  the  accom 
panying  note  of  same  date,  was  received  yesterday. 

"  The  most  important  paragraph  in  the  letter,  as  I  consider,  is 
in  these  words :  '  On  the  25th  of  November  last  I  was  advised  by 
an  authority  which  I  deemed  likely  to  be  well  informed  as  well 
as  reliable  and  truthful,  that  the  southern  States  would  send 
representatives  to  the  next  Congress,  provided  that  a  full  and 
general  amnesty  should  permit  them  to  do  so.  No  guarantee 
or  terms  were  asked  for  other  than  the  amnesty  referred  to.' 

"  I  strongly  suspect  your  information  will  prove  to  be  ground 
less  ;  nevertheless,  I  thank  you  for  communicating  it  to  me. 
Understanding  the  phrase  in  the  paragraph  above  quoted — 
'  the  southern  States  would  send  representatives  to  the  next 


THE   POLITICAL   AND   MILITARY   EVENTS   OF   1863.      527 

congress' — to  be  substantially  the  same  as  that  '  the  people  of 
the  southern  States  would  cease  resistance,  and  would  rein- 
augurate,  submit  to,  and  maintain  the  national  authority  within 
the  limits  of  such  States,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,'  I  say  that  in  such  case  the  war  would  cease  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States ;  and  that  if  within  a  reasonable  time  '  a 
full  and  general  amnesty'  were  necessary  to  such  end,  it  would 
not  be  withheld. 

"I  do  not  think  it  would  be  proper  now  to  communicate 
this,  formally  or  informally,  to  the  people  of  the  southern 
States.  My  belief  is  that  they  already  know  it ;  and  when  they 
choose,  if  ever,  they  can  communicate  with  me  unequivocally. 
Nor  do  I  think  it  proper  now  to  suspend  military  operations 
to  try  any  experiment  of  negotiation. 

"  I  should  nevertheless  receive,  with  great  pleasure,  the  exact 
information  you  now  have,  and  also  such  other  as  you  may  in 
any  way  obtain.  Such  information  might  be  more  valuable 
before  the  1st  January  than  afterward.* 

"  While  there  is  nothing  in  this  letter  which  I  shall  dread  to 
see  in  history,  it  is,  perhaps,  better  for  the  present  that  its 
existence  should  not  become  public.  I  therefore  have  to  re 
quest  that  you  will  regard  it  as  confidential. 

"Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN." 

*  A  reference  to  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  which  the  President 
proposed  to  issue  on  that  day,  in  case  his  preliminary  offer  should  be,  at 
that  time,  unaccepted. 


528  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE   TEAR  1863,  AND   MR.  LINCOLN'S  RENOMINATION   FOR   THE 

PRESIDENCY. 

Two  Drafts  ordered. — The  appointment  of  General  U.  S.  Grant  as  Lieu 
tenant-General . — His  Programme  of  Military  Operations. — Mr.  Lin 
coln's  remarks  at  the  Patent  Office  Fair,  in  "Washington. — His  address  to 
the  Working-men's  Democratic  Republican  Association  of  New  York. — 
His  letter  to  the  Christian  Commission. — His  speech  at  the  U.  S.  Sani 
tary  Commission  Fair  at  Baltimore. — Political  events  ;  Mr.  Lincoln  is 
renominated  for  the  Presidency. — Platform  of  the  Eepublican  Party. — 
His  reception  of  the  news  of  his  Nomination. — General  McClellan 
nominated  by  the  Democratic  Party,  and  General  Fremont  by  the 
Radicals. — President  Lincoln's  Address  at  the  Philadelphia  Sanitary 
Fair. — Military  events  ;  a  gloomy  battle-summer ;  final  successes  ;  a 
change  of  popular  feeling,  and  a  day  of  Thanksgiving  appointed. — The 
attempt  of  the  Rebels  to  open  Negotiations  for  Peace. — It  is  "  squashed" 
by  the  President's  note,  "To  whom  it  may  Concern." — The  Presiden 
tial  election  of  1864. — Mr.  Lincoln  is  elected. — His  speech  upon  being 
notified  thereof. 

THE  requirements  of  the  military  and  naval  service 
called  for  their  prompt  and  decided  augmentation,  and 
the  President,  therefore,  on  the  1st  of  February,  1864, 
issued  an  order  for  a  draft  for  five  hundred  thousand 
men,  to  serve  for  three  years  or  during  the  war,  to  be 
made  on  the  tenth  of  March  following.  On  the  four 
teenth  of  March,  he  issued  orders  for  a  supplementary 
draft  in  April,  for  an  additional  two  hundred  thousand 
men  for  the  service  in  the  army,  navy,  and  marine 
corps  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  twenty-six  of  March,  1864;  the  following  pro- 


RENOM1NATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  529 

clamation,  explanatory  ©f  the  one  issued  on  the  eighth 
of  December.,  1863,  was  published: 

"  By  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  WHEKEAS,  it  has  become  necessary  to  define  the  cases  in 
which  insurgent  enemies  are  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the 
proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  which  was 
made  on  the  eighth  day  of  December,  1863,  and  the  manner  in 
which  they  shall  proceed  to  avail  themselves  of  these  benefits  ; 
and  whereas  the  objects  of  that  proclamation  were  to  suppress 
the  insurrection  and  to  restore  the  authority  of  the  United 
States;  and  whereas  the  amnesty  therein  proposed  by  the 
President  was  offered  with  reference  to  these  objects  alone : 

"Now,,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  do  hereby  proclaim  and  declare  that  the  said 
proclamation  does  not  apply  to  the  cases  of  persons  who,  at  the 
time  when  they  seek  to  obtain  the  benefits  thereof  by  taking 
the  oath  thereby  prescribed,  are  in  military,  naval,  or  civil  con 
finement  or  custody,  or  under  bonds,  or  on  parole  of  the  civil, 
military,  or  naval  authorities,  or  agents  of  the  United  States, 
as  prisoners  of  war,  or  persons  detained  for  offences  of  any 
kind,  either  before  or  after  conviction ;  and  that  on  the  con 
trary  it  does  apply  only  to  those  persons  who,  being  yet  at 
large,  and  free  from  any  arrest,  confinement,  or  duress,  shall 
voluntarily  come  forward  and  take  the  said  oath,  with  the 
purpose  of  restoring  peace  and  establishing  the  national 
authority. 

"  Persons  excluded  from  the  dfcnnesty  offered  in  the  said 
proclamation  may  apply  to  the  President  for  clemency,  like 
all  other  offenders,  and  their  application  will  receive  due  con 
sideration. 

"  I  do  further  declare  and  proclaim  that  the  oath  presented 

in  the  aforesaid  proclamation  of  the  eighth  of  December,  1863, 

may  be  taken  and  subscribed  before  any  commissioned  officer, 

civil,  military,  or  naval,  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  or 

34 


530  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

any  civil  or  military  officer  of  a  State  or  Territory  not  in  insur 
rection,  who,  by  the  laws  thereof,  may  be  qualified  for  admin 
istering  oaths. 

"All  officers  who  receive  such  oaths  are  hereby  authorized 
to  give  certificates  thereof  to  the  persons  respectively  by  whom 
they  are  made,  and  such  officers  are  hereby  required  to  trans 
mit  the  original  records  of  such  oaths  at  as  early  a  day  as 
may  be  convenient,  to  the  Department  of  State,  where  they 
will  be  deposited,  and  remain  in  the  archives  of  the  govern 
ment. 

"  The  Secretary  of  State  will  keep  a  registry  thereof,  and 
will,  on  application,  in  proper  cases,  issue  certificates  of  such 
records  in  the  customary  form  of  official  certificates. 

"  In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  the  twenty-sixth  day  of 
March,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one   thousand  eight 
[L.  s.]    hundred  and  sixty-four,  and  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  the  eighty-eighth. 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  By  the  President : 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State" 

On  the  26th  of  February,  Congress  adopted  a  bill 
which  had  been  introduced  on  the  first  day  of  the  session, 
having  for  its  object  the  revival  of  the  rank  of  Lieuten- 
ant-General  in  the  army.  It  was  approved  on  the  2d 
of  March  by  the  President,  who  immediately  nominated 
Major-General  Ulysses  S.  Grant  as  the  recipient  of  the 
high  office,  and  the  nomination  was  promptly  confirmed 
on  the  same  day,  by  the  Senate.  On  the  9th  of  the 
same  month,  at  the  White  House  in  Washington,  the 
general  received  his  commission  from  the  hands  of  the 
President,  who  accompanied  the  presentation  with  these 
few,  but  earnest  words  : — 


RENOMINATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  531 

"  GENERAL  GRANT  : — The  expression  of  the  nation's  appro 
bation  of  what  you  have  already  done,  and  its  reliance  on  you 
for  what  remains  to  do  in  the  existing  great  struggle,  is  now 
presented  with  this  commission,  constituting  you  Lieutenant- 
(j-cneral  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States. 

"  With  this  high  honor  devolves  on  you  an  additional  respon 
sibility.  As  the  country  herein  trusts  you,  so,  under  God,  it 
will  sustain  you.  I  scarcely  need  add,  that  with  what  I  here 
speak  for  the  country,  goes  my  own  hearty  personal  concurrence." 

Accepting  this  commission  with  characteristic  modesty, 
General  Grant  proceeded,  with  equal  characteristic  ener 
gy,  to  organize  a  grand  campaign  of  offensive  operations, 
which  should  combine  the  armies  of  the  East  and  of  the 
West  in  one  simultaneous  effort  to  throttle  the  rebellion, 
and  end  the  war.  It  is  true  that  the  movements  in 
Florida  and  Louisiana  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  season,  as 
well  as  the  captures  by  the  rebels  of  Fort  Pillow  and 
Plymouth,  followed,  as  they  were,  by  massacres  of  unpar 
alleled  barbarity — afforded  no  very  auspicious  opening 
to  the  campaign.  Yet  the  public  confidence  was  im 
mensely  strengthened  by  the  appointment  of  General 
Grant  to  the  chief  command;  for  his  previous  signal 
success,  as  well  as  his  earnest  and  unselfish  character, 
was,  to  both  people  and  soldiers,  a  pledge  that  the 
time  and  strength  of  a  great  nation  would  no  longer  be 
frittered  away  amid  the  petty  bickerings  of  jealous 
military  commanders  and  political  aspirants. 

In  delegating  this  great  power  to  Lieutenant-General 
Grant,  the  direction  of  military  affairs  had  been  limited 
by  no  hampering  conditions.  The  entire  forces  of  the 
country,  with  such  subordinates  and  such  preparations  as 


532  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

he  especially  desired,  were  freely  placed  at  his  disposal, 
by  the  government. 

TLe  armies  of  Eastern  Tennessee  and  Virginia  were 
heavily  increased  by  new  levies,  and  by  an  effective  sys 
tem  of  concentration ;  and,  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Mis 
sissippi,  it  soon  became  evident  that,  under  the  inspira 
tion  of  a  great  controlling  mind,  every  thing  was  being 
placed  in  condition  for  dealing  a  last  effective  blow  at 
the  already  tottering  Confederacy.  The  programme  was 
briefly  this  :  Sherman's  field  of  operation  was  the  South 
west,  and  after  taking  and  destroying  Atlanta,  he  was  to 
march  directly  through  the  heart  of  Georgia,  making 
Savannah  his  first  objective  point ;  then  striking  north 
ward,  he  was  to  compel  the  evacuation  of  Columbia, 
Charleston  and  Wilmington,  and  co-operate  with  Grant 
in  the  conquest  of  the  rebel  capital ; — Thomas  being  left 
in  the  South-west,  to  check,  and  if  possible  to  destroy 
Hood  and  Johnston.  Meanwhile,  Grant,  with  his  brave 
lieutenants,  Meade,  Sheridan,  and  Hancock,  were  to  ac 
complish  the  annihilation  of  Lee's  splendid  army,  and 
the  capture  of  the  rebel  capital.  The  highest  compli 
ment  to  the  sagacity,  tact,  and  military  genius  of  the 
illustrious  commander-in-chief,  as  displayed  in  this  plan 
of  operations,  is  found  in  the  fact  that,  during  the  ensu 
ing  year,  and  in  spite  of  all  drawbacks  and  the  many 
unforeseen  emergencies  which  are  constantly  occurring 
to  change  the  fortunes  and  character  of  a  campaign — its 
details  were  finally  carried  out  almost  to  the  very  letter, 
and  with  a  completeness  which  ensured  the  much  hoped- 
for  results.  Right  gloriously  did  the  Lieutenant-General 
vindicate  his  telegram  to  the  President  in  May,  saying, 


RENOMINATION   FOR   THE    PRESIDENCY.  533 

"  I  intend  to  fight  it    out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all 
summer." 

On  the  21st  of  March,  1864,  at  the  close  of  a  fair  for 
the  benefit  of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  held  at  the 
Patent  Office,  in  Washington,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  called 
upon  for  a  speech,  and  complied  by  making  the  following 
brief  remarks : 

"  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  : — I  appear  but  to  say  a  word. 
This  extraordinary  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  falls  heavily 
upon  all  classes  of  people,  but  the  most  heavily  upon  the  soldier. 
For  it  has  been  said,  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his 
life ;  and,  while  all  contribute  of  their  substance,  the  soldier 
puts  his  life  at  stake,  and  often  yields  it  up  in  his  country's 
cause.  The  highest  merit,  then  is  due  to  the  soldier. 

"  In  this  extraordinary  war,  extraordinary  developments  have 
manifested  themselves,  such  as  have  not  been  seen  in  former 
wars;  and  among  these  manifestations  nothing  has  been 
more  remarkable  than  these  fairs  for  the  relief  of  suffering  sol 
diers  and  their  families.  And  the  chief  agents  in  these  fairs 
are  the  women  of  America.  I  am  not  accustomed  to  the  use  of 
the  language  of  eulogy  ;  I  have  never  studied  the  art  of  paying 
compliments  to  women ;  but  I  must  say  that,  if  all  that  has  been 
said  by  orators  and  poets,  since  the  creation  of  the  world,  in 
praise  of  women,  were  applied  to  the  women  of  America,  it 
would  not  do  them  justice  for  their  conduct  during  this  war. 
I  will  close  by  saying,  God  bless  the  women  of  America !" 
(Great  applause.) 

Three  days  later,  a  committee  appointed  by  the 
Workingmen's  Democratic  Eepublican  Association  of 
New  York  waited  on  the  President,  and  presented  him 
with  an  address  informing  him  that  he  had  been  elected 
an  honorary  member  of  that  organization.  To  this, 
Mr.  Lincoln  made  the  following  reply : 


534  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  : — The  honorary  member 
ship  in  your  association,  so  generously  tendered,  is  gratefully 
accepted. 

"You  comprehend,  as  your  address  shows,  that  the  existing 
rebellion  means  more  and  tends  to  do  more  than  the  perpefr  a- 
tion  of  African  slavery — that  it  is,  in  fact,  a  war  upon  the  rights 
of  all  working  people.  Partly  to  show  that  this  view  has  not 
escaped  my  attention,  and  partly  that  I  cannot  better  express 
myself,  I  read  a  passage  from  the  message  to  Congress  in 
December,  1861 : 

"It  continues  to  develop  that  the  insurrection  is  largely,  if 
not  exclusively,  a  war  upon  the  first  principle  of  popular  gov 
ernment,  the  rights  of  the  people.  Conclusive  evidence  of  this 
is  found  in  the  most  grave  and  maturely  considered  public  doc 
uments,  as  well  as  in  the  general  tone  of  the  insurgents.  In 
those  documents  we  find  the  abridgement  of  the  existing  right 
of  suffrage,  and  the  denial  to  the  people  of  all  right  to  partici 
pate  in  the  selection  of  public  officers,  except  the  legislative, 
boldly  advocated,  with  labored  argument  to  prove  that  large 
control  of  the  people  in  government  is  the  source  of  all  political 
evil.  Monarchy  itself  is  sometimes  hinted  at  as  a  possible 
refuge  from  the  power  of  the  people. 

"  In  my  present  position  I  could  scarcely  be  justified  were  I 
to  omit  raising  a  warning  voice  against  this  approach  of  return 
ing  despotism. 

"  It  is  not  needed,  nor  fitting  here,  that  a  general  argument 
should  be  made  in  favor  of  popular  institutions  ;  but  there  is 
one  point,  with  its  connections,  not  so  hackneyed  as  most  others, 
to  which  I  ask  a  brief  attention.  It  is  the  effort  to  place  capital 
on  an  equal  footing,  if  not  above  labor,  in  the  structure  of  gov 
ernment.  It  is  assumed  that  labor  is  available  only  in  connec 
tion  with  capital ;  that  nobody  labors  unless  somebody  else, 
owning  capital,  somehow  by  the  use  of  it  induces  him  to  labor. 
This  assumed,  it  is  next  considered  whether  it  is  best  that  capi 
tal  shall  hire  laborers,  and  thus  induce  them  to  work  by  their 


RENOMINATION   FOR    THE    PRESIDENCY.  535 

own  consent,  or  buy  them,  and  drive  them  to  it  without  their 
consent.  Having  proceeded  so  far,  it  is  naturally  concluded 
that  all  laborers  are  either  hired  laborers,  or  what  we  call  slaves. 
And  further,  it  is  assumed  that  whoever  is  once  a  hired  laborer, 
is  fixed  in  that  condition  for  life.  Now  there  is  no  such  rela 
tion  between  capital  and  labor  as  assumed,  nor  is  there  any 
such  thing  as  a  free  man  being  fixed  for  life  in  the  condition  of  a 
hired  laborer.  Both  these  assumptions  are  false,  and  all  infer 
ences  from  them  are  groundless. 

"  Labor  is  prior  to,  and  independent  of,  capital.  Capital  is 
only  the  fruit  of  labor,  and  could  never  have  existed  if  labor 
had  not  first  existed.  Labor  is  the  superior  of  capital,  and  de 
serves  much  the  higher  consideration.  Capital  has  its  rights, 
which  are  as  worthy  of  protection  as  any  other  rights.  Nor  is 
it  denied  that  there  is,  and  probably  always  will  be,  a  relation 
between  capital  and  labor,  producing  mutual  benefits.  The 
error  is  in  assuming  that  the  whole  labor  of  a  community  exists 
within  that  relation.  A  few  men  own  capital,  and  that  few 
avoid  labor  themselves,  and,  with  their  capital,  hire  or  buy 
another  few  to  labor  for  them.  A  large  majority  belong  to 
neither  class — neither  work  for  others,  nor  have  others  working 
for  them.  In  most  of  the  southern  States  a  majority  of  the 
whole  people  of  all  colors,  are  neither  slaves  nor  masters ;  while 
in  the  northern,  a  large  majority  are  neither  hirers  nor  hired. 
Men  with  their  families — wives,  sons,  and  daughters — work  for 
themselves  on  their  farms,  in  their  houses,  and  in  their  shops, 
taking  the  whole  product  to  themselves,  and  asking  no  favors 
of  capital  on  the  one  hand  nor  of  hired  laborers  or  slaves  on  the 
other.  It  is  not  forgotten  that  a  considerable  number  of  persons 
mingle  their  own  labor  with  capital ;  that  is,  they  labor  with  their 
own  hands,  and  also  buy  or  hire  others  to  labor  for  them,  but  this 
is  only  a  mixed  and  not  a  distinct  class.  No  principle  stated  is 
disturbed  by  this  mixed  class. 

"  Again,  as  has  already  been  said,  there  is  not,  of  necessity, 
any  such  thing  as  the  free  hired  laborer  being  fixed  to  that 


536  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

condition  for  life.  Many  independent  men  everywhere  in  these 
States,  a  few  years  back  in  their  lives  were  hired  laborers. 
The  prudent  penniless  beginner  in  the  world  labors  for  wages 
a  while,  saves  a  surplus  with  which  to  buy  tools  or  land  for  him 
self,  then  labors  on  his  own  account  another  while,  and  at  length 
hires  another  new  beginner  to  help  him.  This  is  the  just  and  gen 
erous  and  prosperous  system  which  opens  the  way  to  all — gives 
hope  to  all,  and  consequent  energy  and  progress,  and  improve 
ment  of  condition  to  all.  No  men  living  are  more  worthy  to 
be  trusted  than  those  who  toil  up  from  poverty — none  less  in 
clined  to  touch  or  take  aught  which  they  have  not  honestly 
earned.  Let  them  beware  of  surrendering  a  political  power 
they  already  possess,  and  which,  if  surrendered,  will  surely 
be  used  to  close  the  door  of  advancement  against  such  as  thev, 
and  to  fix  new  disabilities  and  burdens  upon  them,  till  all  of 
liberty  shall  be  lost. 

"  The  views  then  expressed  remain  unchanged,  nor  have  1 
much  to  add.  None  are  so  deeply  interested  to  resist  the  pres 
ent  rebellion  as  the  working  people.  Let  them  beware  of 
prejudices,  working  division  and  hostility  among  themselves. 
The  most  notable  feature  of  a  disturbance  in  your  city  last 
summer  was  the  hanging  of  some  working  people  by  other 
working  people.  It  should  never  be  so.  The  strongest  bond 
of  human  sympathy,  outside  of  the  family  relation,  should  be 
one  uniting  all  working  people,  of  all  nations,  and  tongues,  and 
kindreds.  Nor  should  this  lead  to  a  war  upon  property  or  the 
owners  of  property.  Property  is  the  fruit  of  labor ;  property 
is  desirable :  is  a  positive  good  in  the  world.  That  some  should 
be  rich  shows  that  others  may  become  rich,  and,  hence,  is  just 
encouragement  to  industry  and  enterprise.  Let  not  him  who 
is  houseless  pull  down  the  house  of  another,  but  let  him  labor 
diligently  and  build  one  for  himself,  thus  by  example  assuring 
that  his  own  shall  be  safe  from  violence  when  built." 

In  this  connection  we  may,  also,  present  the  following 


RENOMINATION    FOR    THE    PRESIDENCY.  537 

letter,  written  a  year  before,  which  is  strongly  indicative 
of  the  deep  interest  which  Mr.  Lincoln  ever  manifested 
in  all  these  volunteer  benevolent  movements  for  the  re 
lief  of  the  sick  and  wounded  of  the  army  and  navy.  It 
was  addressed  to  the  Christian  Commission,  in  reply  to 
an  invitation  to  preside  over  the  meeting  of  that  body 
held  in  Washington,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1863. 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  February  22d?  1863. 
"  EE v.  ALEXANDER  EEED  : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — Your  note,  by  which  you,  as  General 
Superintendent  of  the  U.  S.  Christian  Commission,  invite  me  to 
preside  at  a  meeting  to  be  held  this  day,  at  the  hall  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  this  city,  is  received. 

"  While,  for  reasons  which  I  deem  sufficient,  I  must  decline 
to  preside,  I  cannot  withhold  my  approval  of  the  meeting,  and 
its  worthy  objects.  Whatever  shall  be,  sincerely  and  in  God's 
name,  devised  for  the  good  of  the  soldiers  and  seamen  in  their 
hard  spheres  of  duty,  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  blessed.  And 
whatever  shall  tend  to  turn  our  thoughts  from  the  unreasoning 
and  uncharitable  passions,  prejudices,  and  jealousies  incident  to 
a  great  national  trouble  such  as  ours,  and  to  fix  them  on  the 
vast  and  long-enduring  consequences,  for  weal  or  for  woe,  which 
are  to  result  from  the  struggle,  and  especially  to  strengthen  our 
reliance  on  the  Supreme  Being  for  the  final  triumph  of  the 
right,  cannot  but  be  well  for  us  all. 

"  The  birthday  of  Washington  and  the  Christian  Sabbath 
coinciding  this  year,  and  suggesting  together  the  highest  inter 
ests  of  this  life  and  of  that  to  come,  it  is  the  most  propitious 
for  the  meeting  proposed. 

"Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN." 

Another  speech,  delivered  by  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the 
eighteenth  of  April,  1864,  at  the  opening  of  a  fair  held 
in  Baltimore,  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States  Sani- 


0-Jb  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tary  Commission,  is  especially  suggestive,  in  view  of 
the  date,  place,  and  occasion  of  its  delivery.  It  will  be 
remembered,  that,  on  his  way  to  Washington,  in  Feb 
ruary,  1861,  he  had  been  obliged  to  pass  through  the 
city  of  Baltimore  incognito,  to  escape  from  a  plot  of 
assassination,  of  which  he  had  been  forewarned.  On  the 
nineteenth  of  April,  in  the  same  year  also,  the  blood 
of  loyal  soldiers,  marching  to  protect  the  national 
capital,  had  been  shed  in  the  streets  of  that  city,  by 
ruffian  hands.  He  now  stood  before  an  immense  throng 
in  the  same  city,  on  the  anniversary  eve  of  the  assault 
upon  those  soldiers,  and  at  the  fair  in  aid  of  an  organi 
zation  for  the  benefit  of  Union  soldiers  everywhere.  He 
spoke,  too,  of  slavery,  and  was  loudly  cheered  when  he 
referred  to  the  practically  accomplished  fact  of  its  aboli 
tion,  and  announced  the  intention  of  government  to 
give  the  fullest  protection,  even  to  the  extent  of  retribu 
tion,  to  every  black  soldier  in  its  armies. 

The  report  of  this  speech,  is  here  given,  as  it  appeared 
in  the  Baltimore  journals  at  the  time. 

After  the  cheering  had  ended,  and  after,  with  great 
exertions,  order  had  been  secured — everybody  being 
anxious  to  see  the  President — he  said,  substantially  : 

"  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  : — Calling  it  to  mind  that  we  are 
in  Baltimore,  we  cannot  fail  to  note  that  the  world  moves. 
[Applause.]  Looking  upon  these  many  people  I  see  assem 
bled  here  to  serve,  as  they  best  may,  the  soldiers  of  the  Union, 
it  at  once  occurs  to  me  that  three  years  ago  the  same  soldiers 
could  not  so  much  as  pass  through  Baltimore.  The  change 
from  then  till  now  is  both  great  and  gratifying.  I  would  say, 
blessings  upon  the  men  who  have  wrought  the  change,  and  the 
fair  women  who  strive  to  reward  them  for  it.  [Applause.] 


RENOMINATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  539 

But,  Baltimore  suggests  more  than  could  happen  within  Balti 
more.  This  change  which  has  taken  place  in  Baltimore,  is 
part  only  of  a  far  wider  change,  that  is  taking  place  all  over 
the  country. 

''  When  the  war  began,  three  years  ago,  neither  party,  nor 
any  man,  expected  it  would  last  till  now.  Each  looked  for 
the  end,  in  some  way,  long  ere  to-day.  Neither  did  any  antici 
pate  that  domestic  slavery  would  be  much  affected  by  the  war. 
But  here  we  are;  the  war  has  not  ended,  and  slavery  has  been 
much  affected — how  much  needs  not  now  to  be  recounted.  [Loud 
applause.]  So  true  it  is  that  man  proposes  and  God  disposes. 

''  But  we  can  see  the  past,  though  we  may  claim  to  have 
directed  it ;  and  seeing  it,  in  this  case,  we  feel  more  hopeful 
and  confident  for  the  future. 

"  The  world  has  never  had  a  good  definition  of  the  word 
liberty,  and  the  American  people,  just  now,  are  much  in  want 
of  one.  We  all  declare  for  liberty ;  but  in  using  the  same 
ivord  we  do  not  all  mean  the  same  thing.  With  some  the  word 
liberty  may  mean  for  each  man  to  do  as  he  pleases  with  him 
self,  and  the  product  of  his  labor;  while  with  others  the 
same  word  may  mean  for  some  men  to  do  as  they  please  with 
other  men,  and  the  product  of  other  men's  labor.  Here  are 
two,  not  only  different,  but  incompatible  things,  called  by  the 
same  name,  liberty.  And  it  follows  that  each  of  these  things 
is,  by  the  respective  parties,  called  by  two  different  and  incom 
patible  names — liberty  and  tyranny. 

"The  shepherd  drives  the  wolf  from  the  sheep's  throat,  for 
which  the  sheep  thanks  the  shepherd  as  a  liberator,  while  the 
wolf  denounces  him  for  the  same  act,  as  the  destroyer  of  liberty, 
especially  as  the  sheep  was  a  black  one.  [Applause.]  Plainly, 
the  sheep  and  the  wolf  are  not  agreed  upon  a  definition  of  the 
word  liberty ;  and  precisely  the  same  difference  prevails  to-day 
among  us  human  creatures,  even  in  the  North,  and  all  profess 
ing  to  love  liberty.  Hence  we  behold  the  process  by  which 
thousands  are  daily  passing  from  under  the  yoke  of  bondage 


540  THE     LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

hailed  by  some  as  the  advance  of  liberty,  and  bewailed  by 
others  as  the  destruction  of  all  liberty.  Kecently,  as  it  seems, 
the  people  of  Maryland  have  been  doing  something  to  define 
liberty,  and  thanks  to  them  that,  in  what  they  have  done,  the 
wolfs  dictionary  has  been  repudiated.  [Applause.] 

Is  is  not  very  becoming  for  one  in  my  position  to  make 
speeches  at  great  length ;  but  there  is  another  subject  upon 
which  I  feel  that  I  ought  to  say  a  word.  A  painful  rumor, 
true  I  fear,  has  reached  us  of  the  massacre,  by  the  rebel  forces 
at  Fort  Pillow,  in  the  west  end  of  Tennessee,  on  the  Missis- 
sissippi  river,  of  some  three  hundred  colored  soldiers  and 
white  officers,  who  had  just  been  overpowered  by  their  assail 
ants.  There  seems  to  be  some  anxiety  in  the  public  mind 
whether  the  government  is  doing  its  duty  to  the  colored  soldier, 
and  to  the  service,  at  this  point.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  and  for  some  time,  the  use  of  colored  troops  was  not  con 
templated  ;  and  how  the  change  of  purpose  was  wrought,  I 
will  not  now  take  time  to  explain.  Upon  a  clear  conviction  of 
duty,  I  resolved  to  turn  that  element  of  strength  to  account ; 
and  I  am  responsible  for  it  to  the  American  people,  to  the 
Christian  world,  to  history,  and  on  my  final  account  to  God. 
Having  determined  to  use  the  negro  as  a  soldier,  there  is  no 
way  but  to  give  him  all  the  protection  given  to  any  other  sol 
dier.  [Applause.]  The  difficulty  is  not  in  stating  the  princi 
ple,  but  in  practically  applying  it.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
the  government  is  indifferent  to  this  matter,  or  is  not  doing  the 
best  it  can  in  regard  to  it.  We  do  not  to-day  know  that  a 
colored  soldier,  or  white  officer  commanding  colored  soldiers, 
has  been  massacred  by  the  rebels  when  made  a  prisoner.  We 
fear  it,  believe  it,  I  may  say,  but  we  do  not  know  it.  To  take 
the  life  of  one  of  their  prisoners  on  the  assumption  that  they 
murder  ours,  when  it  is  short  of  certainty  that  they  do  murder 
ours,  might  be  too  serious,  too  cruel  a  mistake.  We  are 
having  the  Fort  Pillow  affair  thoroughly  investigated ;  and  such 
investigation  will  probably  show  conclusively  how  the  truth 


RENOMINATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  541 

is.  If,  after  all  that  has  been  said,  it  shall  turn  out  that  there 
has  been  no  massacre  at  Fort  Pillow,  it  will  be  almost  safe  to 
say  there  has  been  none,  and  will  be  none  elsewhere.  If  there 
has  been  the  massacre  of  three  hundred  there,  or  even  the 
tenth  part  of  three  hundred,  it  will  be  conclusively  proven  ;  and 
being  so  proven,  the  retribution  shall  as  surely  come.  It  will 
be  matter  of  grave  consideration  in  what  exact  course  to  apply 
the  retribution ;  but,  in  the  supposed  case,  it  must  come.  [Ap 
plause.] 

As  Mr.  Lincoln's  term  of  office  began  to  draw  to  a 
close,  his  renomination  for  the  Presidency  was  clearly 
foreshadowed  in  the  expressions  of  public  opinion.  The 
spring  elections  of  1864  in  some  of  the  New  England 
States,  proved,  even  more  decidedly  than  those  of  the 
year  previous,  that  his  administration  had  become  firmly 
grounded  in  the  confidence  of  the  people ;  and  the  fact 
that  the  administration  party  in  each  of  those  States 
made  his  election  a  distinct  issue  of  the  canvass,  ren 
dered  the  result  of  their  local  contests  a  most  gratifying 
indorsement  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  personal  popularity.  To 
this  was  added,  also,  the  unanimous  and  enthusiastic 
wish,  as  expressed  through  State  conventions  or  Legis 
latures,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  continue  to  hold  during 
another  term  the  office  upon  which  he  had  already  con 
ferred  such  honor.  A  similar  current  of  public  opinion 
was  strongly  apparent  in  every  northern  State ;  and  the 
friends  of  the  government  in  Europe,  also,  looked  upon 
his  re-election  as  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  our  in 
stitutions. 

When,  therefore,  on  the  seventh  of  June,  1864,  the 
National  Republican  Convention  assembled  at  Balti 
more,  the  formal  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  the 


542  THE   LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

choice  of  the  people  for  a  second  term  of  the  Presi 
dential  office  was  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course.  The 
vote  of  the  Convention,  on  the  ninth,  was  as  follows : 

For  Mr.  Lincoln — Maine  fourteen,  New  Hampshire 
ten,  Vermont  ten,  Massachusetts  twenty-four,  Rhode 
Island  eight,  Connecticut  twelve,  New  York  sixty-five, 
New  Jersey  fourteen,  Pennsylvania  fifty-two,  Delaware 
six,  Maryland  fourteen,  Louisiana  fourteen,  Arkansas 
ten,  Tennessee  fifteen,  Kentucky  twenty-two,  Ohio  forty- 
two,  Indiana  twenty-six,  Illinois  thirty-two,  Michigan 
sixteen,  Wisconsin  sixteen,  Iowa  sixteen,  Minnesota 
eight,  California  ten,  Oregon  six,  West  Virginia  ten, 
Kansas  six,  Nebraska  six,  Colorado  six,  Nevada  six. 
Total,  four  hundred  and  ninety-seven. 

For  General  Grant — Missouri  twenty-two. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  therefore,  for  the  second  time, 
nominated  by  acclamation  for  President  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  Governor  Andrew  Johnson,  of  Tennessee, 
also  a  self-made  man,  was  nominated  for  the  Vice  Presi 
dency.  The  convention  also  adopted  the  following 
pithy  series  of  resolutions,  embracing  the  platform  of 
the  party  : 

'''Resolved,  That  it  is  the  highest  duty  of  every  American 
citizen  to  maintain  against  all  their  enemies  the  integrity  of 
the  Union,  and  the  paramount  authority  of  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States ;  and  that,  laying  aside  all  differences 
and  political  opinions,  we  pledge  ourselves,  as  Union  men,  ani 
mated  by  a  common  sentiment  and  aiming  at  a  common  object, 
to  do  every  thing  in  our  power  to  aid  the  Government  in.  quell 
ing  by  force  of  arms  the  rebellion  now  raging  against  its 
authority,  and  in  bringing  to  the  punishment  due  to  their 
crimes  the  rebels  and  traitors  arrayed  against  it. 


RENOMINATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  543 

"Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  determination  of  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  not  to  compromise  with  rebels  or  to 
offer  any  terms  of  peace,  except  such  as  may  be  based  upon 
an  '  unconditional  surrender'  of  their  hostility  and  a  return  to 
their  j  ust  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States ;  and  that  we  call  upon  the  government  to  maintain  this 
position,  and  to  prosecute  the  war  with  the  utmost  possible 
vigor  to  the  complete  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  in  full  re 
liance  upon  the  self-sacrifice,  the  patriotism,  the  heroic  valor 
and  the  undying  devotion  of  the  American  people  to  their 
country  and  its  free  institutions. 

"  Resolved,  That  as  slavery  was  the  cause,  and  now  constitutes 
the  strength,  of  this  rebellion,  and  as  it  must  be  always  and 
everywhere  hostile  to  the  principles  of  republican  govern 
ment,  justice  and  the  national  safety  demand  its  utter  and  com 
plete  extirpation  from  the  soil  of  the  republic,  and  that  we 
uphold  and  maintain  the  acts  and  proclamations  by  which  the 
government,  in  its  own  defence,  has  aimed  a  death-blow  at  this 
gigantic  evil.  We  are  in  favor,  furthermore,  of  such  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution,  to  be  made  by  the  people,  in 
conformity  with  its  provisions,  as  shall  terminate  and  forever 
prohibit  the  existence  of  slavery  within  the  limits  of  the  juris 
diction  of  the  United  States. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  American  people  are  due 
to  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  army  and  navy  (applause), 
who  have  periled  their  lives  in  defence  of  their  country  and  in 
vindication  of  the  honor  of  the  flag ;  that  the  nation  owes  to 
them  some  permanent  recognition  of  their  patriotism  and  their 
valor,  and  ample  and  permanent  provisions  for  those  of  their 
survivors  who  have  received  disabling  and  honorable  wounds 
in  the  service  of  the  country ;  and  that  the  memories  of  those 
who  have  fallen  in  its  defence  shall  be  held  in  grateful  and  ever 
lasting  remembrance. 

"Resolved,  That  we  approve  and  applaud  the  practical 
wisdom,  the  unselfish  patriotism,  and  unswerving  fidelity  to  the 


544  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Constitution  and  the  principles  of  American  liberty,  with 
which  Abraham  Lincoln  has  discharged,  under  circumstances 
of  unparalleled  difficulty,  the  great  duties  and  responsibilities 
of  the  Presidential  office ;  that  we  approve  and  indorse,  as 
demanded  by  the  emergency  and  essential  to  the  preservation 
of  the  nation,  and  as  within  the  Constitution,  the  measures  and 
acts  which  he  has  adopted  to  defend  the  nation  against  its  open 
and  secret  foes  ;  that  we  approve  especially  the  proclamation  of 
emancipation,  and  the  employment  as  Union  soldiers  of  men 
heretofore  held  in  slavery,  and  that  we  have  full  confidence  in 
his  determination  to  carry  these  and  all  other  constitutional 
measures  essential  to  the  salvation  of  the  country  into  full  and 
complete  effect. 

"Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  essential  to  the  general  welfare 
that  harmony  phould  prevail  in  the  national  councils,  and  we 
regard  as  worthy  of  public  confidence  and  official  trust  those 
only  who  cordially  indorse  the  principles  proclaimed  in  these 
resolutions,  and  which  should  characterize  the  administration 
of  the  government. 

"Resolved,  That  the  government  owes  to  all  men  employed 
in  its  armies,  without  regard  to  distinction  of  color,  the  full 
protection  of  the  laws  of  war,  and  that  any  violation  of  these 
laws  or  of  the  usages  of  civilized  nations  in  the  time  of  war 
by  the  rebels  now  in  arms  should  be  made  the  subject  of  full 
and  prompt  redress. 

"Resolved,  That  the  foreign  immigration  which  in  the  past 
has  added  so  much  to  the  wealth  and  development  of  resources 
and  increase  of  power  to  this  nation,  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed 
of  all  nations,  should  be  fostered  and  encouraged  by  a  liberal 
and  just  policy. 

•'  Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  the  speedy  construction 
of  the  railroad  to  the  Pacific. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  national  faith  pledged  for  the  redemp 
tion  of  the  public  debt  must  be  kept  inviolate,  and  that  for  this 
purpose  we  recommend  economy  and  rigid  responsibility  in  the 


RENOMINATIOX   FOR    THE   PRESIDENCY.  545 

public  expenditures;  and  a  vigorous  and  just  system  of  taxa 
tion  ;  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  loyal  State  to  sustain  the 
credit  and  promote  the  use  of  the  national  currency. 

11  Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  position  taken  by  the 
government  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  can  never 
regard  with  indifference  the  attempt  of  any  European  power 
to  overthrow  by  force  or  to  supplant  by  fraud  the  institutions 
of  any  republican  government  on  the  western  continent;  and 
that  they  will  view  with  extreme  jealousy  as  menacing  to  the 
peace  and  independence  of  this  our  country,  the  efforts  of  any 
such  power  to  obtain  new  footholds  for  monarchical  govern 
ments  sustained  by  a  foreign  military  force  in  near  proximity 
to  the  United  States." 

Upon  his  nomination  being  officially  announced  to 
Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  following  day,  he  made  this  char 
acteristic  acceptance : 

"  GENTLEMEN  : — I  can  only  say,  in  response  to  the  remarks  of 
your  chairman,  I  suppose,  that  I  am  very  grateful  for  the 
renewed  confidence  which  has  been  accorded  to  me,  both  by 
the  convention  and  by  the  National  League.  I  am  not  insensi 
ble  at  all  to  the  personal  compliment  there  is  in  this,  yet  I  do 
not  allow  myself  to  believe  that  any  but  a  small  portion  of  it 
is  to  be  appropriated  as  a  personal  compliment.  The  conven 
tion  and  the  nation,  I  am  assured,  are  alike  animated  by  a 
higher  view  of  the  interests  of  the  country  for  the  present  and 
the  great  future,  and  that  part  I  am  entitled  to  appropriate  as 
a  compliment,  is  only  that  part  which  I  may  lay  hold  of  as 
being  the  opinion  of  the  convention  and  of  the  league — that  I 
am  not  unworthy  to  be  intrusted  with  the  place  I  have  occupied 
for  the  last  three  years.  I  have  not  permitted  myself,  gentle 
men,  to  conclude  that  I  am  the  best  man  in  the  country ;  but  I 
am  reminded  in  this  connection  of  a  story  of  an  old  Dutch 
farmer,  who  remarked  to  a  companion  once,  that  '  it  was  not 
best  to  swap  horses  when  crossing  streams.' " 
35 


546  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

On  the  29th  of  August  of  the  same  year,  the  Demo 
cratic  Convention  met  at  Chicago,  and  nominated 
George  B.  McClellan  for  the  Presidency,  and  George  H. 
Pendleton  for  the  Vice  Presidency.  The  platform  of 
the  party,  as  laid  down  by  this  convention,  set  forth, 
among  other  things,  the  following  : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  convention  does  explicitly  declare,  as 
the  sense  of  the  American  people,  that  after  four  years  of  failure 
to  restore  the  Union  by  the  experiment  of  war,  during  which, 
under  the  pretence  of  a  military  necessity  of  a  war  power 
higher  than  the  Constitution,  the  Constitution  itself  has  been 
disregarded  in  every  part,  and  public  liberty  and  private  right 
alike  trodden  down,  and  the  material  prosperity  of  the  country 
essentially  impaired;  justice,  humanity,  liberty,  and  the  public 
welfare,  demand  that  immediate  efforts  be  made  for  a  cessation 
of  hostilities,  with  a  view  to  an  ultimate  convention  of  all  the 
States,  or  other  peaceable  means  to  the  end  that  at  the  earliest 
practicable  moment  peace  may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the 
Federal  Union  of  the  States." 

General  McClellan,  in  his  letter  of  acceptance  of  this 
nomination,  endeavored  virtually  to  ignore  the  portion 
of  the  platform  given  above,  and  urged  a  vigorous  prose 
cution  of  the  war.  This  caused  much  dissatisfaction  in 
the  Democratic  party,  and  for  a  time  it  seemed  as 
though  the  party  would  be  wrecked  in  advance  of  the 
election  by  these  differences ;  some  of  the  leading  peace 
men  of  the  party  refusing  to  support  General  McClellan, 
while  the  War  Democracy  denounced  the  platform  in 
unmeasured  terms. 

The  radicals,  also,  impatient  of  what  they  considered 
Mr.  Lincoln's  weakness  and  over-caution,  held  a  con- 


RENOMIXATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  547 

vention  at  Cleveland,  at  which  they  nominated  General 
Fremont  as  their  banner  bearer. 

The  year  1864  was  signalized  by  a  series  of  monster 
fairs,  held  in  the  principal  cities  of  the  Union,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission. 
At  one  of  these,  the  great  "  Central  Sanitary  Fair," 
held  at  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  wife  were 
present,  by  invitation,  on  the  16th  of  June.  A  large 
multitude  were  present  to  welcome  the  beloved  Chief 
Magistrate,  and  after  partaking  of  an  elegant  collation 
which  had  been  prepared,  Mr.  Lincoln  made  a  charac 
teristic  address,  in  which,  speaking  of  the  war,  he  said : 

"  War,  at  the  best,  is  terrible,  and  this  war  of  ours,  in  its 
magnitude  and  its  duration,  is  one  of  the  most  terrible.  It  has 
deranged  business,  totally  in  many  localities,  and  partially  in 
all  localities.  It  has  destroyed  property,  and  ruined  homes ;  it 
has  produced  a  national  debt  and  taxation  unprecedented,  at 
least  in  this  country.  It  has  carried  mourning  to  almost  every 
home,  until  it  can  almost  be  said  that  the  '  heavens  are  hung  in 
black.'  *  *  *  *  * 

"It  is  a  pertinent  question,  often  asked  in  the  mind  pri 
vately,  and  from  one  to  the  other,  'when  is  the  war  to  end?7 
Surely  I  feel  as  deep  an  interest  in  this  question  as  any  other 
can,  but  I  do  not  wish  to  name  a  day,  or  month,  or  a  year  when 
it  is  to  end.  I  do  not  wish  to  run  any  risk  of  seeing  the  time 
come,  without  our  being  ready  for  the  end,  and  for  fear  of  dis 
appointment  because  the  time  had  come,  and  not  the  end.  We 
accepted  this  war  for  an  object,  a  worthy  object,  and  the  war 
will  end  when  that  object  is  attained.  Under  God,  I  hope  it 
never  will  until  that  time.  [Great  cheering.]  Speaking  of  the 
present  campaign,  General  Grant  is  reported  to  have  said,  '  I  am 
going  through  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer !'  [Cheers.] 
This  war  has  taken  three  years ;  it  was  begun,  or  accepted,  upon 


548  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tlie  line  of  restoring  the  national  authority  over  the  whole  na 
tional  domain — and  for  the  American  people;  as  far  as  my 
knowledge  enables  me  to  speak,  I  say,  we  are  going  through 
on  this  line  if  it  takes  three  years  more.  [Cheers.]  My 
friends,  I  did  not  know  but  that  I  might  be  called  upon  to  say 
a  few  words  before  I  got  away  from  here,  but  I  did  not  know  it 
was  coming  just  here.  [Laughter.]  I  have  never  been  in  the 
habit  of  making  predictions  in  regard  to  the  war,  but  I  am 
almost  tempted  to  make  one.  If  I  were  to  hazard  it,  it  is  this  : 
That  Grant  is  this  evening,  with  General  Meade  and  General 
Hancock,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  brave  officers  and  soldiers 
with  him,  in  a  position  from  whence  he  will  never  be  dislodged 
until  Kichmond  is  taken,  [loud  cheering,]  and  I  have  but  one 
single  proposition  to  put  now,  and  perhaps  I  can  best  put  it  in 
the  form  of  an  interrogatory.  If  I  shall  discover  that  General 
Grant,  and  the  noble  officers  and  men  under  him,  can  be  greatly 
facilitated  in  their  work  by  a  sudden  pouring  forward  of  men 
and  assistance,  will  you  give  them  to  me  ?  [Cries  of  '  Yes  !'] 
Then,  I  say,  stand  ready,  for  I  am  waiting  for  the  chance. 
[Laughter  and  cheers.]  I  thank  you,  gentlemen." 

The  hint  given  by  the  President  in  his  speech,  was 
remembered,  and  better  understood  when,  during  the 
following  month,  a  call  was  made  for  five  hundred  thou 
sand  more  men. 

The  months  of  June,  July  and  August,  1864,  were, 
in  respect  to  military  events,  the  gloomiest  and  most 
discouraging  which  had  been  experienced  since  the 
summer  of  1862.  General  Grant's  operations,  while 
they  could  not  be  called  failures,  were  certainly  not  so 
successful  as  to  relieve  the  public  mind  from  deep 
anxiety  and  apprehension  of  disaster.  Starting,  on  the 
3d  of  May,  and  fighting  heavily  and  persistently  every 
step  of  the  way  from  the  Rapidan  to  the  James ;  he  had, 


RENOMINATION   FOR    THE   PRESIDENCY.  549 

indeed,  flanked  Lee's  army  from  one  position  after 
another,  until  he  found  himself,  by  the  first  of  June,  in 
front  of  Richmond — but,  he  had  lost  one  hundred  thou 
sand  men!  Here  the  enemy  stood  desperately  at  bay, 
and  Grant,  although  his  immense  losses  had  been  fully 
recruited,  found  himself  utterly  unable  to  force  the  posi 
tion  ;  and  without  any  apparent  advantage  to  show  for 
all  that  he  had  done.  Things  were  at  a  "dead  lock;" 
and,  though  he  held  Lee's  army  fast  where  it  was,  he 
was  able  to  do  but  little  more.  A  false  move  would  have 
been  fatal  not  only  to  his  heroic  army,  but  to  the  eter 
nal  liberties  of  the  nation  whose  warrior-leader  he  was. 
In  this  critical  position,  he  determined  to  throw  his 
army  across  the  James  river,  and  attack  Richmond  on 
that  side ;  and,  in  three  days,  the  bold  movement  was 
accomplished,  in  the  very  face  of  the  rebel  foe,  although 
without  his  knowledge. 

Previously  to  this,  in  accordance  with  the  Lieutenant- 
General's  masterly  plans,  the  Army  of  the  James,  under 
command  of  General  Butler,  had  seized  and  fortified 
Bermuda  Hundred,  nearly  midway  between  Richmond 
and  Petersburg ;  had  cut  the  railroad  below  the  latter 
place,  upon  which  an  unsuccessful  attack  had  been 
made ;  had  laid  siege  to  Fort  Darling,  but  had  been  un 
able  to  hold  the  position  against  the  rebels ;  and,  having 
repelled  all  attacks  on  its  lines,  was  prepared  to  render 
important  assistance  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  In 
Western  Virginia,  the  Union  General,  Sigel,  had  been 
defeated,  and  was  relieved  from  command  by  General 
Hunter;  who,  though  at  first  successful,  was  finally 
obliged  to  retreat  before  the  rebel  Early,  with  terrible 
suffering  to  his  troops,  and  heavy  losses  of  guns  and 


550  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

trains.  Early,  then,  finding  himself  unopposed,  pushed 
down  the  Shenandoah ;  crossed  into  Maryland ;  occupied 
Hagerstown  and  Frederick ;  plundered  extensively ; 
fought  several  baftles  with  the  militia  which  ventured 
to  oppose  him ;  burnt  Postmaster-General  Blair's  resi 
dence  at  Silver  Springs ;  destroyed  the  passenger  trains 
on  the  Baltimore  and  Washington  Railroad,  and  auda 
ciously  threatened  both  those  cities.  He  even  ap 
proached  within  two  miles  of  the  latter  city,  but  finding 
himself  unexpectedly  confronted  by  the  veteran  Nine 
teenth  Corps,  fresh  from  New  Orleans,  and  the  Sixth 
from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  a  large  force  under 
General  Couch,  from  Pennsylvania,  in  his  rear ;  he  has 
tened  back  into  Virginia,  taking  with  him  his  plunder, 
and  burning  the  town  of  Chambersburg,  Pa.  .  These 
stirring  events  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  national 
capital,  of  course  added  largely  to  the  disquietude  of 
the  public  mind,  already  depressed  by  the  uncertainty 
of  success  on  the  part  of  our  army.  During  all  this  ex 
citing  period,  however,  President  Lincoln  remained 
calmly  at  his  post.  *  Sheridan,  meantime,  had  made  his 
famous  raid  completely  around  Lee's  lines,  committing 
sad  havoc  with  rebel  stores  and  communications. 

As  soon  as  General  Grant  reached  the  south  side  of 
the  James  he  ordered  an  immediate  attack  on  Peters 
burg,  which  was  unsuccessful ;  and  a  series  of  attacks 
upon  the  rebel  works,  resulted,  by  the  23d  of  June,  in 
the  investiture  of  that  city,  except  on  its  northern  and 
western  sides.  Then  was  tried,-  after  considerable  delay, 
the  explosion  of  the  great  mine  under  the  defences  of 
Petersburg  (July  30th),  followed  by  an  attack,  which 
resulted  only  in  terrible  disaster  and  loss  to  the  force 


RENOMINATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  551 

employed.  Nothing,  so  far,  seemed  to  have  been  gained. 
Then  followed  five  weary  weeks  of  sad  depression  to  the 
loyal  North,  during  which  little  was  gained  in  the 
vicinity  of  Petersburg — except  a  slight  advance,  and 
contraction  of  the  Union  lines,  accomplished  only  by 
occasional  attacks  and  hand-to-hand  conflicts.  More 
important  operations  were  recommenced  late  in  Septem 
ber,  by  the  battle  of  Chaffin's  Farm ;  the  affair  of  Fort 
Harrison ;  a  cavalry  reconnoissance  within  two  miles  of 
Richmond ;  a  desperate  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
rebels  to  turn  the  right  flank  of  the  Army  of  the  James 
(October  7th) ;  and  the  battle  of  Hatcher's  Run  on  the 
29th  of  the  same  month.  Sheridan,  who  in  August 
previous  had  been  sent  to  the  command  of  the  Army 
of  the  Sheiiandoah,  met,  and  in  a  series  of  brilliant 
actions  defeated  the  rebel  Early  and  drove  him  out  of 
the  valley.  This  was  about  the  middle  of  October. 

Sherman,  also,  during  all  these  months,  had  been 
contending  with  a  wily  and  powerful  foe,  and  with  ob 
stacles  of  more  than  usual  strength.  Starting  (May  7th) 
from  Chattanooga  (three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
his  primary  base  at  Louisville,  and  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  from  his  secondary  base  at  Nashville),  he 
commenced  his  march  to  Atlanta,  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  distant,  with  slender  lines  of  communica 
tion,  surrounded  by  enemies  and  by  topographical  diffi 
culties  which  might  well  have  intimidated  a  less 
courageous  strategist.  By  a  series  of  severely-contested 
battles  and  masterly  flanking  manoeuvres,  he  placed 
himself,  by  the  22d  of  July,  in  front  of  Hood's  army, 
which  had  rallied  at  bay  in  the  outer  line  of  the  de 
fences  of  Atlanta.  Here  a  desperate  battle  was  fought, 


552  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

in  which  the  Union  army  was  finally  victorious,  though 
their  joy  was  sadly  diminished  by  the  loss  of  Major- 
General  McPherson,  one  of  the  ablest  and  best-beloved 
of  Sherman's  lieutenants.  Then  ensued  a  series  of  ope 
rations  by  which  Atlanta  was  severed  from  all  its  com 
munications  ;  but,  as  yet,  it  seemed  impregnable — and 
with  every  day's  delay  Sherman's  position  became  more 
critical.  Finally,  after  another  battle  with  Hood,  who, 
for  the  third  time,  was  severely  whipped,  Sherman  de 
termined  to  capture  the  city,  if  possible,  by  a  grand 
flanking  movement,  which  obliged  him  to  apparently 
raise  the  siege.  This  was  done ;  and  while  Hood  was 
congratulating  his  army  that  Sherman  had  given  up  the 
capture  of  Atlanta  as  a  hopeless  task,  he  found  his  few 
remaining  communications  severed,  and  no  hope  for 
himself  but  immediate  retreat.  Blowing  up  his  ammu 
nition  trains,  he  evacuated  the  town,  which  was  occu 
pied  by  the  Union  forces  on  the  2d  of  September. 

While  our  soldiers  were  thus  nobly  doing  their  duty 
in  the  face  of  tremendous  odds,  "  our  gallant  web-feet," 
as  Mr.  Lincoln  once  playfully  nick-named  the  sailors, 
had  been  by  no  means  inactive.  Admiral  Farragut  had 
long  desired  to  attack  the  defences  of  Mobile,  and  to 
check  the  blockade-running  which  it  was  impossible 
wholly  to  prevent  while  that  port  was  left  unmolested. 
An  attack  upon  the  three  strong  forts  which  guarded 
the  entrance  of  the  harbor  had  been  several  times  pro 
jected,  but  as  often  delayed  from  one  cause  or  another. 
Finally,  during  the  month  of  July,  1864,  an  arrange 
ment  was  made  for  a  combined  attack  by  land  and  sea 
forces,  which  was  carried  into  effect  on  the  5th  of 
August,  resulting,  after  a  terrible  conflict,  in  the  de- 


RENOMINATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  553 

struction  of  the  rebel  fleet ;  the  capture  of  the  famous 
armored-ship  Tennessee,  and  of  two  hundred  and  thirty 
rebel  officers  and  men ;  the  abandonment  on  the  next 
day  of  Fort  Powell,  with  eighteen  guns ;  the  surrender 
011  the  eighth  of  Fort  Games,  with  over  eighteen  hun 
dred  prisoners  and  twenty-six  guns;  and,  on  the  23d  of 
August,  after  a  further  bombardment  of  twenty-four 
hours,  of  Fort  Morgan,  with  sixty  guns  and  six  hundred 
prisoners.  Thus  the  port  of  Mobile  became  hermetically 
sealed  against  blockade-runners,  and  a  serious  blow  was 
given  to  the  rebel  cause. 

The  signal  success  at  Mobile  was  almost  the  first — cer 
tainly  the  only  considerable — victory  which  lighted  up 
the  gloom  of  this  battle-summer.  The  general  ill-success 
of  our  arms,  the  tremendous  losses  incurred,  and  the 
evident  fact  that  the  government  was  straining  every 
nerve  to  meet  the  extraordinary  demands  made  upon  it, 
had  produced  in  the  public  mind  a  feeling  of  intense 
anxiety  and  depression ;  of  which  the  opponents  of  the 
Administration  at  home  as  well  as  abroad  were  prompt 
to  take  advantage.  They  "  croaked"  about  our  disas 
ters  ;  they  bewailed  what  they  termed  the  "  reckless 
disregard  of  human  life"  manifested  in  our  military 
operations;  they  exclaimed  against  the  incompetency 
of  the  Cabinet ;  and  "  waxed  exceeding  wroth"  over  the 
measures  adopted  by  the  President  and  Secretary  of 
War  in  certain  critical  emergencies ;  inveighed  against 
what  they  were  pleased  to  term  a  governmental  inter 
ference  with  and  disregard  of  the  Constitution ;  and 
groaned  over  the  vast  expenditure  of  money  which  was 
saddling  the  country  with  a  debt  which  "future  genera 
tions  yet  unborn"  would  never  live  to  see  paid.  In 


554  THE  LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

short,  taking  advantage  of  the  state  of  affairs,  all  that 
misrepresentation,  malignity,  personal  ill-will  and  parti- 
zan  zeal  could  find  or  invent  to  be  used  against  Mr.  Lin 
coln  and  his  supporters  in  the  coming  election,  was 
eagerly  seized  and  venomously  used. 

These  misrepresentations  and  croakings,  together  with 
the  condition  of  military  affairs,  were  not  without  their 
effect  upon  the  popular  mind.  It  would  have  been,  per 
haps,  too  much  to  expect  that  the  people,  so  long 
disappointed,  and  so  long  delayed  in  the  success  of 
the  undertaking  to  which  they  had  freely  and  generously 
committed  themselves,  should  not  have  been  seriously 
disturbed  and  disheartened  by  the  "  logic  of  events," 
as  interpreted  by  the  insidious  and  plausible  arguments 
of  these  malcontents.  It  was,  indeed,  a  most  critical 
moment  for  Mr.  Lincoln  and  for  the  country.  Impa 
tient,  dispirited,  sick  of  war,  and  desirous  of  peace,  the 
people  were  in  a  fit  mood  for  any  change  of  leaders,  or 
of  policy,  which  promised  a  speedy  end  to  their  diffi 
culties. 

It  was  at  just  this  juncture,  at  the  darkest  moment  of 
this  hour  of  gloom  and  indecision,  that  the  Democratic 
party  nominated  General  McClellan  for  the  Presidency, 
and  put  forth  their  peace  platform — a  platform  which  dis 
tinctly  avowed  the  uselessness  of  a  further  continuance 
of  the  war,  and  a  determination  to  secure  a  peace  with 
the  rebel  leaders  at  any  price.  If  ever  the  friends  of 
the  Union  and  of  human  liberty  had  cause  to  thank 
God  for  a  "  special  providence,"  it  was  for  the  second 
section  of  the  Chicago  Platform  !*  The  national  heart, 

*  See  page  546. 


RENOMINATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  555 

although  "sick  with  hope  deferred/'  was  not  utterly 
callous  to  the  promptings  of  duty  and  of  right ;  and  it 
quivered  with  indignation  at  this  shameless  avowal,  by 
men  who  had  been  the  persistent  opponents  of  govern 
ment,  of  a  desire  and  a  purpose  to  surrender  to  rebels  in 
arms  all  for  which  our  brave  armies  had  been  contend 
ing  during  the  past  four  years.  The  opposition  leaders 
had  wofully  mistaken  the  temper  of  the  American  people 
when  they  inserted  the  peace  plank  in  their  platform — 
for  it  was  indignantly  spurned,  not  only  by  the  masses 
and  by  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  but  by  a  large  portion 
of  the  Democratic  party,  who  immediately  rallied  to  the 
support  of  the  Administration.  From  that  moment  the 
political  issue  was  distinctly  drawn,  and  as  fairly  under 
stood  by  the  people — "  Shall  we  carry  on  this  war  to  an 
honorable  termination,  or  shall  we  cravenly  surrender 
to  rebels  in  arms  ?"  The  question  involved  the  life  of 
the  nation,  and  the  reaction  in  the  popular  feeling  was 
prompt  and  powerful.  Sophistries  could  no  longer 
blind,  and  disasters  no  longer  warp  the  better  judg 
ment  of  the  masses ;  and  public  opinion  once  more 
began  to  flow  in  healthier  and  more  cheerful  channels. 
This  happy  change  was  most  pleasantly  intensified  by 
the  receipt,  early  in  September,  of  the  news  of  the 
glorious  naval  victory  at  Mobile,  and  of  Sherman's  tri 
umphant  occupation  of  Atlanta.  And  Mr.  Lincoln, 
always  prompt  to  acknowledge  the  agency  of  the 
Almighty  in  national  affairs,  immediately  gave  expres 
sion  to  the  popular  joy  by  proclaiming  a  day  of 
Thanksgiving. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring,  the  President 
received  intimations  that  certain  parties,  professing  to 


556  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

represent  the  Confederate  government,  were  at  the 
Clifton  House,  at  Niagara  Falls,  and  desired  to  enter 
into  negotiations  for  peace.  These  parties,  who  evi 
dently  began  to  foresee  that  the  "  beginning  of  the 
end"  was  drawing  nigh,  succeeded  in  persuading  Mr. 
Horace  Greeley  that  such  a  conference  would  be  highly 
productive  of  good  in  ending  the  war;  and,  through 
his  influence  and  agency,  the  President  was  .placed  in 
communication  with  these  self-styled  pacificators.  Their 
real  purpose  was,  undoubtedly,  to  induce  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  some  manner  to  recognize  the  bogus  Southern  Con 
federacy,  and  to  entrap  him  into  a  revelation  of  his 
plan,  or  some  overt  admission  which  should  be  used  to 
their  advantage.  They  first  applied  for  permission  to 
visit  Washington,  "  as  bearers  of  propositions  looking 
to  the  establishment  of  peace ;"  but  Mr.  Lincoln's  cau 
tion  and  adroit  management  soon  elicited  from  them 
the  fact  that  they  had  no  authority  from  Richmond  to 
act  officially  upon  the  subject.  He,  therefore,  contented 
himself  with  sending  them  the  following  characteristic 
message  : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  I8th,  1864.  j 

"  TO  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN  : 

"  Any  propositions  which  embrace  the  restoration  of  peace, 
the  integrity  of  the  whole  Union,  and  the  abandonment  of  slavery, 
and  which  comes  by  and  with  an  authority  that  can  control  the 
armies  now  at  war  against  the  United  States,  will  be  received 
and  considered  by  the  executive  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  will  be  met  by  liberal  terms  on  other  substantial 
and  collateral  points,  and  the  bearer  or  bearers  thereof  shall 

have  safe  conduct  both  ways. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


RENOMINATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY.  557 

This  straightforward  document,  while  it  clearly  de 
monstrated  the  perfect  readiness  of  the  President  to 
afford  full  opportunity  for  the  suggestion  of  any  measures 
looking  towards  peace,  at  the  same  time  pricked  the 
hollow  pretences  of  these  pseudo-embassadors,  who 
responded  to  it  in  a  tone  of  ill-temper  which  betrayed 
their  bitter  disappointment  at  the  failure  of  their  nice 
little  trap  to  catch  Mr.  Lincoln  "  napping."  Their  com 
plaints,  however,  had  no  other  effect  than  to  render 
them  ridiculous  in  the  sight  of  the  world,  and  their 
labors  went  for  naught. 

The  presidential  election  took  place  upon  the  8th  of 
November,  1864 ;  General  Fremont  having  withdrawn 
from  the  field,  on  the  21st  of  September  preceding,  the 
contest  rested  solely  between  Mr.  Lincoln,  Kepublican, 
and  General  McClellan,  Democrat.  It  resulted  in  the 
triumph  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  every  loyal  State,  except 
Kentucky,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware.  These  three 
States,  altogether,  gave  to  the  Democratic  candidate  but 
twenty-one  electoral  votes ;  while  the  Kepublican  candi 
date  carried  twenty-two  States,  giving  him  two  hundred 
and  thirteen  electoral  votes ;  thus  allowing  Mr.  Lincoln 
a  majority  in  the  Electoral  College  of  one  hundred  and 
ninety-two  votes,  although  but  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
were  all  that  were  necessary  to  secure  him  the  victory. 

In  some  of  the  States  their  soldiers  in  the  field  were 
allowed  to  vote,  the  military  vote,  in  such  cases,  being 
almost  invariably  cast  for  Lincoln  and  Johnson. 

The  official  returns  for  the  entire  vote  polled,  summed 
up  four  million  and  thirty-four  thousand,  seven  hundred 
and  eighty-nine;  of  which  Mr.  Lincoln  received  two 
millions  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand  and 


558  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

thirty-five,  and  McClellan  one  million  eight  hundred 
and  eleven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-four,  leav 
ing  a  majority  of  four  hundred  and  eleven  thousand 
two  hundred  and  eighty-one  on  the  popular  vote.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  who  in  1860  was  elected  by  a  plurality  vote, 
received  in  1864  a  most  decided  and  unmistakable 
majority,  being  the  sixth  President  of  the  United  States 
who  had  been  elected  to  serve  a  second  term. 

This  gratifying  result  was  accepted  as  a  full  indorse 
ment  of  the  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration,  and 
the  prosecution  of  the  war  received  new  vigor  and 
strength,  from  this  time  forward. 

At  a  late  hour  on  the  night  of  the  election,  the  Presi 
dent  was  serenaded  by  a  club  of  Pennsylvanians,  who 
notified  him  of  the  fact  of  his  being  the  choice  of  the 
people  for  a  second  term.  He  responded  as  follows : 

"  FKIENDS  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  : — Even  before  I  had  been 
informed  by  you  that  this  compliment  was  paid  me  by  loyal 
citizens  of  Pennsylvania  friendly  to  me,  I  had  inferred  that 
you  were  of  that  portion  of  my  countrymen  who  think  that 
the  best  interests  of  the  nation  are  to  be  subserved  by  the  sup 
port  of  the  present  Administration.  I  do  not  pretend  to  say 
that  you,  who  think  so,  embrace  all  the  patriotism  and  loyalty 
of  the  country ;  but  I  do  believe,  and  I  trust  without  personal 
interest,  that  the  welfare  of  the  country  does  require  that  such 
support  and  indorsement  be  given.  I  earnestly  believe  that 
the  consequences  of  this  day's  work,  if  it  be  as  you  assume, 
and  as  now  seems  probable,  will  be  to  the  lasting  advantage  if 
not  to  the  very  salvation  of  the  country.  I  cannot,  at  this 
hour,  say  what  has  been  the  result  of  the  election,  but  whatever 
it  ma}^  be,  I  have  no  desire  to  modify  this  opinion :  that  all 
who  have  labored  to-day  in  behalf  of  the  Union  organization, 
have  wrought  for  the  best  interest  of  their  country  and  the 


REXOMIXATION   FOR   THE   PRESIDENT.  559 

world,  not  only  for  the  present  but  for  all  future  ages.  /  am 
thankful  to  God  for  this  approval  of  the  people;  but  while  deeply 
grateful  for  this  mark  of  their  confidence  in  me,  if  I  know  my 
heart,  my  gratitude  is  free  from  any  taint  of  personal  triumph.  I 
do  not  impugn  the  motives  of  any  one  opposed  to  me.  It  is  no 
pleasure  to  me  to  triumph  over  any  one,  but  I  give  thanks  to  the 
Almighty  for  this  evidence  of  the  people's  resolution  to  stand  by  free 
government  and  the  rights  of  humanity." 


560  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

FROM  MR.  LINCOLN'S  RE-ELECTION  TO  THE  CONCLUSION  OF 

THE    WAR. 

The  Annual  Message  of  1864-5. — The  Fortress  Monroe  Peace  Negotia 
tions. — Mr.  Lincoln's  and  Mr.  Seward's  accounts  of  the  Conference. — The 
account  given  by  one  of  the  Rebel  Commissioners,  Hon.  Alexander  S. 
Stephens,  Yice  President  of  the  Confederacy. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Inaugura 
tion,  March  4th,  1865. — His  second  Inaugural  Address. — Military 
Events. — Sherman's  March  to  Savaimah. — Thomas's  defeat  of  Hood. — 
The  Expeditions  against  Wilmington. — Operations  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  against  Richmond  and  Petersburg. — Capture  of  these  Cities. — 
Lee's  flight,  pursuit,  and  defeat. — He  surrenders  to  General  Grant. — 
Sherman's  March  through  the  Carolinas. — He  receives  Johnston's  sur 
render. — Collapse  of  the  Rebellion. — The  President  visits  the  Army. — 
Is  present  at  the  fall  of  Richmond. — Enters  that  City. — Returns  to 
Washington. — His  last  Speech  to  the  People,  on  occasion  of  the  public 
rejoicings  at  Washington. 

BOTH  Houses  of  Congress  assembled  on  Monday,  the 
fifth  of  December,  1864,  and  after  some  preliminary 
business,  adjourned  to  Tuesday,  when  the  following 
message  was  received  from  the  President : 

"  FELLOW  CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  KEPKE- 
SENTATIVES: — Again  the  blessings  of  health  and  abundant 
harvests  claim  our  profoundest  gratitude  to  Almighty  God. 

"  The  condition  of  our  foreign  affairs  is  reasonably  satis 
factory. 

"  Mexico  continues  to  be  a  theatre  of  civil  war.  While  our 
political  relations  with  that  country  have  undergone  no  change, 
we  have  at  the  same  time  strictly  maintained  neutrality  between 
the  belligerents. 


THE    CONCLUSION   OF   THE   TTAR.  561 

"  Official  correspondence  has  been  freely  opened  with  Liberia, 
and  it  gives  us  a  pleasing  view  of  social  and  political  progress 
in  that  republic.  It  may  be  expected  to  derive  new  vigor  from 
American  influence,  improved  by  the  rapid  disappearance  of 
slavery  in  the  United  States.  I  solicit  your  authority  to 
furnish  to  the  republic  a  gunboat,  at  a  moderate  cost,  to 
be  reimbursed  to  the  United  States  by  instalments.  Such  a 
vessel  is  needed  for  the  safety  of  that  State  against  the  native 
African  races,  and  in  Liberian  hands  it  would  be  more  effective 
in  arresting  the  African  slave  trade  than  a  squadron  in  our  own 
hands. 

"The  possession  of  the  least  organized  naval  force  would 
stimulate  a  generous  ambition  in  the  republic,  and  the  confi 
dence  which  we  should  manifest  by  furnishing  it  would  win 
forbearance  and  favor  toward  the  colony  from  all  civilized 
nations. 
*  *  *  *  *  * 

"I  learn,  with  much  satisfaction,  that  the  noble  design 
of  a  telegraphic  communication  between  the  eastern  coast  of 
America  and  Great  Britain  has  been  renewed,  with  full  expec 
tation  of  its  early  accomplishment. 

"  Thus  it  is  hoped  that  with  the  return  of  domestic  peace, 
the  country  will  be  able  to  resume  with  energy  and  advantage 
her  former  high  career  of  commerce  and  civilization. 

"The  ports  of  Norfolk,  Fernandina,  and  Pensacola  have 
been  opened  by  proclamation.  It  is  hoped  that  foreign  mer 
chants  will  now  consider  whether  it  is  not  safe  and  more 
profitable  to  themselves,  as  well  as  just  to  the  United  States,  to 
resort  to  these  and  other  open  ports,  than  it  is  to  pursue, 
through  many  hazards,  and  at  vast  cost,  a  contraband  trade 
with  other  ports  which  are  closed,  if  not  by  actual  military 
operations,  at  least  by  a  lawful  and  effective  blockade. 

' '  For  myself,  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  power  and  duty  of  the 
Executive,  under  the  law  of  nations,  to  exclude  enemies  of  the 
human  race  from  an  asylum  in  the  United  States.     If  Congress 
36 


562  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

should  think  that  proceedings  in  such  cases  lack  the  authority 
of  law,  or  ought  to  be  further  regulated  by  it,  I  recommend 
that  provision  be  made  for  effectually  preventing  foreign  slave- 
traders  from  acquiring  domicile  and  facilities  for  their  criminal 
occupation  in  our  country. 

"  It  is  possible  that  if  this  were  a  new  and  open  question,  the 
maritime  powers,  with  -the  light  they  now  enjoy,  would  not 
concede  the  privileges  of  a  naval  belligerent  to  the  insurgents 
of  the  United  States,  destitute  as  they  are  and  always  have 
been,  equally  of  ships  and  of  ports  and  harbors.  Disloyal 
emissaries  have  been  neither  less  assiduous  nor  more  successful 
during  the  last  year  than  they  were  before  that  time,  in  their 
efforts,  under  favor  of  that  privilege,  to  embroil  our  country  in 
foreign  wars.  The  desire  and  determination  of  the  maritime 
States  to  defeat  that  design  are  believed  to  be  as  sincere  as,  and 
cannot  be  more  earnest  than  our  own. 

"  Nevertheless,  unforeseen  difficulties  have  arisen,  especially 
in  Brazilian  and  British  ports,  and  on  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  United  States,  which  have  required  and  are  likely  to 
continue  to  require  the  practice  of  constant  vigilance,  and  a  just 
and  conciliatory  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  as  well 
as  of  the  nations  concerned  and  their  governments.  Commis 
sioners  have  been  appointed  under  the  treaty  with  Great 
Britain,  on  the  adjustment  of  the  claims  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
and  Puget's  Sound  Agricultural  Companies  in  Oregon,  and  are 
now  proceeding  to  the  execution  of  the  trust  assigned  them. 

"  In  view  of  the  insecurity  of  life  in  the  region  adjacent  to 
the  Canadian  border  by  recent  assaults  and  depredations  com 
mitted  by  inimical  and  desperate  persons  who  are  harbored 
there,  it  has  been  thought  proper  to  give  notice  that  after  the 
expiration  of  six  months,  the  period  conditionally  stipulated  in 
the  existing  arrangements  with  Great  Britain,  the  United  States 
must  hold  themselves  at  liberty  to  increase  their  naval  arma 
ment  upon  the  lakes,  if  they  shall  find  that  proceeding  necessary. 
The  condition  of  the  border  will  necessarily  come  into  con- 


THE    CONCLUSION   OF    THE   WAR.  563 

sideration  in  connection  with  the  continuing  or  modifying 
the  rights  of  transit  from  Canada  through  the  United  States, 
as  well  as  the  regulation  of  imposts,  which  were  temporarily 
established  by  the  ^Reciprocity  Treaty  of  the  5th  of  June,  1864. 
I  desire,  however,  to  be  understood,  while  making  this  state 
ment,  that  the  colonial  authorities  are  not  deemed  to  be  inten 
tionally  unjust  or  unfriendly  towards  the  United  States,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  that  with  the 
approval  of  the  Imperial  Government,  they  will  take  the 
necessary  measures  to  prevent  new  incursions  across  the 
border.  '  \"" 

"  The  act  passed  at  the  last  session  for  the  encouragement  of 
emigration,  has,  as  far  as  was  possible,  been  put  into  operation. 
It  seems  to  need  an  amendment  which  will  enable  the  officers 
of  the  government  to  prevent  the  practice  of  frauds  against  the- 
immigrants  while  on  their  way  and  on  their  arrival  in  the 
ports,  so  as  to  secure  them  here  a  free  choice  of  avocations  and 
places  of  settlement.  A  liberal  disposition  towards  this  great 
national  policy  is  manifested  by  most  of  the  European  States, 
and  ought  to  be  reciprocated  on  our  part  by  giving  the  immi 
grants  effective  national  protection.  I  regard  our  immigrants 
as  one  of  the  principal  replenishing  streams  which  are  ap 
pointed  by  providence  to  repair  the  ravages  of  internal  war, 
and  its  wastes  of  national  strength  and  health.  All  that  is 
necessary  is  to  secure  the  flow  of  that  stream  in  its  present 
fullness,  and  to  that  end  the  government  must,  in  every  way, 
make  it  manifest  that  it  neither  needs  nor  designs  to  impose 
involuntary  military  service  upon  those  who  come  from  other 
lands  to  cast  their  lot  in  our  country. 

"  The  financial  affairs  of  the  government  have  been  success 
fully  administered. 

#  *  #  #  *  * 

"  The  public  debt  on  the  first  day  of  July  last,  as  appears  by 
the  books  of  the  Treasury,  amounted  to  one  billion  seven  hun 
dred  and  forty  million  six  hundred  and  ninety  thousand 


564  THE   LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

four  hundred  and  eighty-nine  dollars  and  forty-nine  cents. 
Probably,  should  the  war  continue  for  another  year,  that 
amount  may  be  increased  by  not  far  from  five  hundred  mil 
lions.  Held  as  it  is  for  the  most  part  by  our  own  people,  it  has 
become  a  substantial  branch  of  national  though  private 
property. 

"  For  obvious  reasons,  the  more  nearly  this  property  can  be 
distributed  among  all  the  people,  the  better  to  favor  such  a 
general  distribution,  greater  inducements  to  become  owners 
might,  perhaps,  with  good  effect  and  without  injury,  be  pre 
sented  to  persons  of  limited  means.  With  this  view,  I  suggest 
whether  it  might  not  be  both  expedient  and  competent  for 
Congress  to  provide  that  a  limited  amount  of  some  future  issue 
of  public  securities  might  be  held  by  any  bona  fide  purchaser 
exempt  from  taxation  and  from  seizure  for  debt,  under  such 
restrictions  and  limitation  as  might  be  necessary  to  guard 
against  abuse  of  so  important  a  privilege.  This  would  enable 
prudent  persons' to  set  aside  a  small  amount  against  a  possible 
day  of  want. 

"  Privileges  like  these  would  render  the  possession  of  such 
securities  to  the  amount  limited  most  desirable  to  every  person 
of  small  means,  who  might  be  able  to  save  enough  for  the  pur 
pose.  The  great  advantage  of  citizens  being  creditors  as  well 
as  debtors,  with  relation  to  the  public  debt,  is  obvious.  Men 
readily  perceive  that  they  cannot  be  much  oppressed  by  a  debt 
which  they  owe  to  themselves. 

"  The  public  debt  on  the  first  day  of  July  last,  although  some 
what  exceeding  the  estimate  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
made  to  Congress  at  the  commencement  of  last  session,  falls 
short  of  the  estimate  of  that  officer  made  in  the  succeeding 
December  as  to  its  probable  amount  at  the  beginning  of  this 
year,  by  the  sum  of  three  million  nine  hundred  and  ninety-five 
thousand  and  seventy-nine  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents.  This 
fact  exhibits  a  satisfactory  condition  and  conduct  of  the  opera- 
ations  of  the  Treasury. 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF    THE   WAR.  565 

".The  national  banking  system  is  proving  to  be  acceptable  to 
capitalists  and  to  the  people.  On  the  25th  day  of  November,  five 
hundred  and  eighty-four  national  banks  had  been  organized,  a 
considerable  number  of  which  were  conversions  from  State 
banks.  Changes  from  the  State  system  to  the  national  system 
are  rapidly  taking  place,  and  it  is  hoped  that  very  soon  there 
will  be  in  the  United  States  no  banks  of  issue  not  authorized 
by  Congress,  and  no  bank-note  circulation  not  secured  by  the 
government.  That  the  government  and  the  people  will  derive 
general  benefit  from  this  change  in  the  banking  systems  of  the 
country  can  hardly  be  questioned.  The  national  system  will 
create  a  reliable  and  permanent  influence  in  support  of  the 
national  credit  and  protect  the  people  against  losses  in  the  use 
of  paper  money.  Whether  or  not  any  further  legislation  is  advis 
able  for  the  suppression  of  State  bank  issues,  it  will  be  for  Con 
gress  to  determine.  It  seems  quite  clear  that  the  Treasury  cannot 
be  satisfactorily  conducted  unless  the  government  can  exercise  a 
restraining  power  over  the  bank-note  circulation  of  the  country. 

"  The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  accompanying 
documents  will  detail  the  campaigns  of  the  armies  in  the  field 
since  the  date  of  the  last  annual  message,  and  also  the  opera 
tions  of  the  several  administrative  bureaux  of  the  War  Depart 
ment  during  the  last  year.  It  will  also  specify  the  measures 
deemed  essential  for  the  national  defence,  and  to  keep  up  and 
supply  the  requisite  military  force. 

"  The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  presents  a  compre 
hensive  and  satisfactory  exhibit  of  the  affairs  of  that  depart 
ment,  and  of  the  naval  service.  It  is  a  subject  of  congratula 
tion  and  laudable  pride  to  our  countrymen,  that  a  navy  of  such 
vast  proportions  has  been  organized  in  so  brief  a  period,  and 
conducted  with  so  much  efficiency  and  success. 

"  The  general  exhibit  of  the  navy,  including  vessels  under 
construction  on  the  first  of  December,  1864,  shows  a  total  of  six 
hundred  and  seventy-one  vessels,  carrying  four  thousand  six 
hundred  and  ten  guns  and  five  hundred  and  ten  thousand  three 


5G6  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

hundred  and  ninety-six  tons,  being  an  actual  increase  during 
the  year  over  and  above  all  losses  by  shipwreck  or  in  battle  of 
eighty -three  vessels,  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  guns,  and 
forty -two  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-seven  tons.  The 
total  number  of  men  at  this  time  in  the  naval  service,  including 
officers,  is  about  fifty-one  thousand.  There  have  been  captured 
by  the  navy  during  the  year,  three  hundred  and  twenty -four 
veseels,  and  the  whole  number  of  naval  captures  since  hostili 
ties  commenced  is  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine,  of  which  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven  are  steamers.  The 
gross  proceeds  arising  from  the  sale  of  condemned  prize  pro 
perty  thus  far  reported,  amount  to  fourteen  million  three  hun 
dred  and  ninety-six  ^thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and 
fifty-one  cents.  A  large  amount  of  such  proceeds  is  still  under 
adjudication,  and  yet  to  be  reported.  The  total  expenditures  of 
the  Navy  Department,  of  every  description,  including  the  cost 
of  the  immense  squadrons  that  have  been  called  into  existence 
from  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  to  the  first  of  November,  1864, 
are  two  hundred  and  thirty -eight  million  six  hundred  and 
forty-seven  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty-two  dollars  and 

thirty-five  cents. 

#  •&  #•  *  *• 

"It  is  of  noteworthy  interest  that  the  steady  expansion 
of  population,  improvement,  and  governmental  institutions 
over  the  new  and  unoccupied  portions  of  our  country  have 
scarcely  been  checked,  much  less  impeded  or  destroyed  by  our 
great  civil  war,  which,  at  first  glance,  would  seem  to  have 
absorbed  almost  the  entire  energies  of  the  nation. 

"  The  organization  and  admission  of  the  State  of  Nevada  has 
been  completed,  in  conformity  with  law,  and  thus  our  excellent 
system  is  firmly  established  in  the  mountains  which  once 
seemed  a  barren  and  uninhabitable  waste  between  the  Atlantic 
States  and  those  which  have  grown  up  on  the  coast  of  the 
Pacific  ocean. 

"  The.  Territories  of  the  Union  are  generally  in  a  condition  of 


THE    CONCLUSION   OF    THE   WAR.  567 

prosperity  and  growth.  Idaho  and  Montana,  by  reason  of  their 
great  distance  and  the  interruption  of  communication  with 
them  by  Indian  hostilities,  have  been  only  partially  organized ; 
but  it  is  understood  that  these  difficulties  are  about  to  disappear, 
which  will  permit  their  governments,  like  those  of  the  others, 

to  go  into  speedy  and  full  operation. 

*  •*  *  #  -x-  * 

"  The  liberal  provisions  made  by  Congress  for  paying  pen 
sions  to  invalid  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  republic,  and  to  the 
widows,  orphans,  and  dependent  mothers  of  those  who  have 
fallen  in  battle  or  died  of  disease  contracted,  or  of  wounds 
received  in  the  service  of  their  country,  have  been  diligently 
administered.  There  have  been  added  to  the  pension  rolls 
during  the  year  ending  the  30th  day  of  June  last,  the  names  of 
sixteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy  invalid  soldiers, 
and  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  disabled  seamen,  making 
the  present  number  of  army  invalid  pensioners,  twenty-two 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-seven,  and  of  navy  invalid 
pensioners,  seven  hundred  and  twelve.  Of  widows,  orphans, 
and  mothers,  twenty-two  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  have  been  placed  on  the  army  pension  rolls,  and  two 
hundred  and  forty-eight  on  the  navy  rolls.  The  present 
number  of  army  pensioners  of  this  class,  is  twenty-five  thou 
sand  four  hundred  and  thirty-three,  and  of  navy  pensioners, 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-three.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
year,  the  number  of  revolutionary  pensioners  was  one  thousand 
four  hundred  and  thirty.  Only  twelve  of  them  were  soldiers, 
of  whom  seven  have  since  died.  The  remainder  are  those  who, 
under  the  law,  receive  pensions  because  of  relationship  to  revo 
lutionary  soldiers.  During  the  year  ending  the  30th  of  June, 
1864,  four  million  five  hundred  and  four  thousand  six  hundred 
and  sixteen  dollars  and  ninety-two  cents  have  been  paid  to 
pensioners  of  all  classes. 

"I  cheerfully  commend  to  your  continued  patronage,  the 
benevolent  institutions  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  which  have 


568  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

hitherto  been  established  or  fostered  by  Congress,  and  respect 
fully  refer  for  information  concerning  them,  and  in  relation  to 
the  Washington  Aqueduct,  the  Capitol,  and  other  matters  of 

local  interest,  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary. 

#  #  #  *  •*  # 

"The  war  continues.  Since  the  last  annual  message,  all  the 
important  lines  and  positions  then  occupied  by  our"  forces  have 
been  maintained,  and  our  armies  have  steadily  advanced,  thus 
liberating  the  regions  left  in  the  rear,  so  that  Missouri,  Ken 
tucky,  Tennessee,  and  parts  of  other  States  have  again  pro 
duced  reasonably  fair  crops. 

"  The  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  military  operations  of 
the  year,  is  General  Sherman's  attempted  march  of  three 
hundred  miles  directly  through  the  insurgent  region.  It  tends 
to  show  a  great  increase  of  our  relative  strength,  that  our 
General-in-Chief  should  feel  able  to  confront  and  hold  in  check 
every  active  force  of  the  enemy,  and  yet  to  detach  a  well- 
appointed,  large  army  to  move  on  such  an  expedition.  The 
result  not  yet  being  known,  conjecture  in  regard  to  it  is  not 
here  indulged. 

"Important  movements  have  also  occurred  during  the  year 
to  the  effect  of  moulding  society  for  durability  in  the  Union — 
although  short  of  complete  success,  it  is  so  much  in  the  right 
direction,  that  twelve  thousand  citizens  in  each  of  the  States  of 
Arkansas  and  Louisiana,  have  organized  loyal  State  govern 
ments  with  free  constitutions,  and  are  earnestly  struggling  to 
maintain  and  administer  them.  The  movement  in  the  same 
direction,  more  extensive  though  less  definite,  in  Missouri, 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  should  not  be  overlooked.  But 
Maryland  presents  the  example  of  complete  success.  Maryland 
is  secure  to  liberty  and  union  for  all  the  future.  The  genius 
of  rebellion  will  no  more  claim  Maryland.  Like  another  foul 
spirit,  being  driven  out,  it  may  seek  to  tear  her,  but  it  will  rule 
her  no  more. 

"  At  the  last  session  of  Congress,  a  proposed  amendment  of 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF   THE   WAR.  569 

the  Constitution  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  United 
States,  passed  the  Senate,  but  failed  for  lack  of  the  requisite 
two-thirds  vote,  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Although 
the  present  is  the  same  Congress,  and  without  questioning  the 
wisdom  or  patriotism  of  those  who  stood  in  opposition,  I 
venture  to  recommend  the  consideration  and  passage  of  the 
measure  at  the  present  session. 

"Of  course  the  abstract  question  is  not  changed,  but  an 
intervening  election  shows  almost  certainly  that  the  next  Con 
gress  will  pass  the  measure  if  this  does  not.  Hence  there  is 
only  a  question  of  time  as  to  when  the  proposed  amendment 
will  go  to  the  States  for  their  action,  and  as  it  is  to  go  at 
all  events,  may  we  not  agree  that  the  sooner  the  better.  It  is 
not  claimed  that  the  election  has  imposed  a  duty  on  members 
to  change  their  views  or  their  votes  any  further  than  as 
an  additional  element  to  be  considered.  Their  judgment  may 
be  affected  by  it.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  people  now  for  the 
first  time  heard  upon  the  question.  In  a  great  national  crisis 
like  ours,  unanimity  of  action  among  those  seeking  a  common 
end  is  very  desirable,  almost  indispensable,  and  yet  no  approach 
to  such  unanimity  is  attainable  unless  some  deference  shall  be 
paid  to  the  will  of  the  majority,  simply  because  it  is  the  will 
of  the  majority.  In  this  case  the  common  end  is  the  main 
tenance  of  the  Union,  and  among  the  means  to  secure  that  end, 
such  will,  through  the  election,  is  most  clearly  declared  in  favor 
of  such  constitutional  amendment. 

"The  most  reliable  indication  of  public  purpose  in  this 
country  is  derived  through  our  popular  elections.  Judging 
by  the  recent  canvass  and  its  result,  the  purpose  of  the  people, 
within  the  loyal  States,  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Union, 
was  never  more  firm  nor  more  nearly  unanimous  than  now. 

"  The  extraordinary  calmness  and  good  order  with  which  the 
millions  of  voters  met  and  mingled  at  the  polls,  give  strong 
assurance  of  this.  Not  only  those  who  supported  the  '  Union 
ticket'  (so-called),  but  a  great  majority  of  the  opposing  party 


570  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN". 

also,  may  be  fairly  claimed  to  entertain  and  to  be  actuated 
by  the  same  purpose.  It  is  an  unanswerable  argument  to  this 
effect  that  no  candidate  for  any  office  whatever,  high  or  low, 
has  ventured  to  seek  votes  on  the  avowal  that  he  was  for  giving 
up  the  Union. 

"  There  has  been  much  heated  controversy  as  to  the  proper 
means  and  best  mode  of  advancing  the  Union  cause,  but  in  the 
distinct  issue  of  Union  or  no  Union,  the  politicians  have  shown 
their  instinctive  knowledge  that  there  is  no  diversity  among 
the  people.  In  affording  the  people  a  fair  opportunity  of  show 
ing  one  to  another,  and  to  the  world,  this  firmness  and  una 
nimity  of  purpose,  the  election  has  been  of  vast  value  to 
the  national  cause. 

"  The  election  has  exhibited  another  fact  not  less  valuable  to 
be  known — the  fact  that  we  do  not  approach  exhaustion  in  the 
most  important  branch  of  the  national  resources,  that  of  living 
men.  While  it  is  melancholy  to  reflect  that  the  war  has  filled 
so  many  graves  and  carried  mourning  to  so  many  hearts,  it  is 
some  relief  to  know  that,  compared  with  the  surviving,  the 
fallen  have  been  so  few.  While  corps,  and  divisions,  and 
brigades,  and  regiments  have  formed  and  fought,  and  dwindled 
and  gone  out  of  existence,  a  great  majority  of  the  men  who 
composed  them  are  still  living.  The  same  is  true  of  the  naval 
service.  The  election  returns  prove  this.  So  many  voters 
could  not  else  be  found.  The  States  regularly  holding  elec 
tions,  both  now  and  four  years  ago,  to  wit:  California,  Con 
necticut,  Delaware,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kentucky,  Maine, 
Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  New 
Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  Oregon,  Pennsyl 
vania,  Khode  Island,  Yermont,  West  Virginia,  and  Wisconsin, 
cast  three  million  nine  hundred  and  eighty-two  thousand  and 
eleven  votes  now  against  three  million  eight  hundred  and 
seventy  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  cast  then,  show 
ing  an  aggregate  now  of  thirty -three  million  nine  hundred 
and  eighty -two  thousand  and  eleven,  to  which  is  to  be  addec], 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF   THE   WAR.  571 

thirty-three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-two  cast  now  in 
the  new  States  of  Kansas  and  Nevada,  which  did  not  vote  in 
1860.  Thus  swelling  the  aggregate  to  four  million  fifteen 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-three,  and  the  net  increase 
during  the  three  years  and  a  half  of  war,  to  one  hundred  and 
forty-five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-one. 

"  To  this,  again,  should  be  added  the  number  of  all  soldiers 
in  the  field  from  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey, 
Delaware,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  California,  who,  by  the  laws  of 
those  States,  could  not  vote  away  from  their  homes,  and  which 
number  cannot  be  less  than  ninety  thousand.  Nor  yet  is  this 
all.  The  number  in  organized  Territories  is  triple  now  what  it 
was  four  years  ago,  while  thousands — white  and  black — join  us 
as  the  national  arms  press  back  the  insurgent  lines.  So  much 
is  shown  affirmatively  and  negatively  by  the  election. 

"  It  is  not  material  to  inquire  how  the  increase  has  been  pro 
duced,  or  to  show  that  it  would  have  been  greater  but  for  the 
war,  which  is  probably  true  ;  the  important  fact  remains  demon 
strated  that  we  have  more  men  now  than  we  had  when  the  war 
began ;  that  we  are  not  exhausted,  nor  in  process  of  exhaustion ; 
that  we  are  gaining  strength,  and  may,  if  need  be,  maintain  the 
contest  indefinitely.  This  as  to  men.  Natural  resources  are 
now  more  complete  and  abundant  than  ever.  The  national 
resources,  then,  are  unexhausted,  and  we  believe  inexhaustible. 
The  public  purpose  to  re-establish  and  maintain  the  national 
authority  is  unchanged,  and,  as  we  believe,  unchangeable.  The 
manner  of  continuing  the  effort  remains  to  choose. 

"  On  careful  consideration  of  all  the  evidence  accessible,  it 
seems  to  me  that  no  attempt  at  negotiation  with  the  insurgent 
leader  could  result  in  any  good.  He  would  accept  of  nothing 
short  of  the  severance  of  the  Union.  His  declarations  to  this 
effect  are  explicit  and  oft-repeated.  He  does  not  attempt 
to  deceive  us.  He  affords  us  no  excuse  to  deceive  ourselves. 
We  cannot  voluntarily  yield  it.  Between  him  and  us  the  issue 
is  distinct,  simple  and  inflexible.  It  is  an  issue  which  can  only 


572  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

be  tried  by  war,  and  decided  by  victory.  If  we  yield  we  are 
beaten ;  if  the  southern  people  fail  him,  he  is  beaten — either 
way  it  would  be  the  victory  and  defeat  following  war.  What 
is  true,  however,  of  him  who  heads  the  insurgent  cause,  is  not 
necessarily  true  of  those  who  follow.  Although  he  cannot 
reaccept  the  Union,  they  can.  Some  of  them,  we  know,  already 
desire  peace  and  reunion.  The  number  of  such  may  increase. 
They  can  at  any  moment  have  peace  simply  by  laying  down 
their  arms,  and  submitting  to  the  national  authority  under  the 
Constitution.  After  so  much  the  government  could  not,  if  it 
would,  maintain  war  against  them.  The  loyal  people  would 
not  sustain  or  allow  it.  If  questions  should  remain,  we  would 
adjust  them  by  the  peaceful  means  of  legislation,  courts, 
and  votes. 

"Operating  only  in  constitutional  and  lawful  channels,  some 
certain  and  other  possible  questions  are  and  would  be  beyond 
the  executive  power  to  adjust;  for  instance,  the  admission 
of  members  into  Congress,  and  whatever  might  require  the 
appropriation  of  money.  The  executive  power  itself  would  be 
really  diminished  by  the  cessation  of  actual  war.  Pardons  and 
remissions  of  forfeiture,  however,  would  still  be  within  execu 
tive  control.  In  what  spirit  and  temper  this  control  would  be 
exercised,  can  be  fairly  judged  of  by  the  past.  A  year  ago 
general  pardon  and  amnesty  upon  specified  terms  were  offered 
to  all  except  certain  designated  classes,  and  it  was  at  the  same 
time  made  known  that  the  excepted  classes  were  still  within 
contemplation  of  special  clemency.  During  the  year  many 
availed  themselves  of  the  general  provision,  and  many  more 
would,  only  that  the  signs  of  bad  faith  in  some  led  to  such  pre 
cautionary  measures  as  rendered  the  practical  process  less  easy 
and  certain.  During  the  same  time,  also,  special  pardons  have 
been  granted  to  individuals  of  excepted  classes,  and  no  volun 
tary  application  has  been  denied.  Thus,  practically,  the  door 
has  been  for  a  full  year  open  to  all,  except  such  as  were  not  in 
condition  to  make  free  choice ;  that  is,  such  as  were  in  custody 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF   THE   WAR.  573 

or  under  constraint.  It  is  still  so  open  to  all,  but  the  time  may 
come,  probably  will  come,  when  public  duty  shall  demand  that 
it  be  closed,  and  that  in  lieu  more  rigorous  measures  than  here 
tofore  shall  be  adopted. 

"  In  presenting  the  abandonment  of  armed  resistance  to  the 
national  authority,  on  the  part  of  the  insurgents,  as  the  only 
indispensable  condition  to  ending  the  war  on  the  part  of 
the  government,  I  retract  nothing  heretofore  said  as  to  slavery. 
I  repeat  the  declaration  made  a  year  ago,  that,  while  I 
remain  in  my  present  position,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  retract  or 
modify  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  Nor  shall  I  return  to 
slavery  any  person  who  is  free  by  the  terms  of  that  proclama 
tion,  or  by  the  acts  of  Congress. 

"  If  the  people  should,  by  whatever  mode  or  means,  make  it 
an  executive  duty  to  re-enslave  such  persons,  another,  and  not 
I,  must  be  their  instrument  to  perform  it.  In  stating  a  single 
condition  of  peace,  I  mean  simply  to  say,  that  the  war  will 
cease  on  the  part  of  the  government,  whenever  it  shall  have 
ceased  on  the  part  of  those  who  began  it. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

The  covert  attempt  to  negotiate  for  favorable  terms 
having  failed,  the  rebel  government,  well  aware  of  its 
waning  power,  made  a  more  open  advance  to  our  gov 
ernment,  which  resulted  in  the  famous  "  Peace  Confer 
ence,"  held  in  Hampton  Koads,  in  the  early  part  of  Feb 
ruary,  1865.  In  order  to  gain  a  clear  understanding 
of  this  whole  affair,  it  may  be  stated  that  on  December 
the  28th,  1864,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  furnished  F.  P.  Blair, 
Sen.,  a  pass  to  enter  the  southern  lines  and  return  ; 
especially  stipulating,  however,  that  he  should  in  no 
way  treat  with  the  rebels,  in  behalf  of  the  government. 
Mr.  Blair,  on  his  return,  brought  a  letter  from  Jefferson 
Davis,  dated  January  12th,  1865,  in  which  he  stated 


574  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

that  he  was  willing  "to  enter  into  negotiations  for  the 
restoration  of  peace/'  that  he  would  appoint  a  commis 
sioner,  "  and  renew  the  effort  to  enter  into  a  conference, 
with  a  view  to  secure  peace  to  the  two  countries." 
Mr.  Lincoln's  reply  to  this  was  as  follows : 

"WASHINGTON,  January  18th,  1865. 

"  F.  P.  BLAIR,  ESQ. — Sir :  You  having  shown  me  Mr.  Davis's 
letter  to  you  of  the  12th  inst.,  you  may  say  to  him  that  I  have 
constantly  been,  am  now,  and  shall  continue  ready  to  receive  any 
agent,  whom  he  or  any  other  influential  person  now  resisting 
the  national  authority,  may  informally  send  me  with  a  view  of 
securing  peace  to  the  people  of  our  common  country. 

"  Yours,  etc.,  A.  LINCOLN." 

This  message,  when  shown  to  Davis,  was  interpreted 
by  him — as  Mr.  Lincoln  evidently  intended  it  should 
be— viz :  as  expressing  a  firm  determination,  however 
anxious  for  peace,  not  to  recognize,  even  tacitly,  the 
assumption  of  the  independence  of  the  rebellious  Con 
federacy. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  ensuing  month,  February,  the 
national  government  received  an  application  for  per 
mission  for  the  Confederate  Vice  President,  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia;  the  President  of  the  rebel 
Senate,  Hon.  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  and  Hon.  J. 
A.  Campbell,  of  Alabama,  the  rebel  Assistant  Secretary 
of  War,  to  enter  the  Union  lines  as  quasi  commissioners 
from  the  rebel  government  to  confer  informally  with 
the  President  at  Washington,  in  order  "to  ascertain 
upon  what  terms  the  war  could  be  terminated  honor 
ably."  Permission  was  granted,  with  the  understanding 
that  the  parties  named  were  not  to  be  allowed  to  land, 
a  fact  which  caused  much  annoyance  to  the  rebel 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF   THE  WAR.  575 

agents,  who  made  no   secret   of  their  desire   to  visit 
Washington. 

They  were  furnished  quarters  on  board  a  steamer, 
anchored  in  Hampton  Roads,  off  Fortress  Monroe,  and 
the  Secretary  of  State  was  sent,  by  the  President,  to 
meet  them  with  the  following  instructions  : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  January  31,  1865. 
"  Hon.  WM.  H.  SEWAKD,  Secretary  of  State : 

"You  will  proceed  to  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia,  there  to 
meet  and  informally  confer  with  Messrs.  Stephens,  Hunter,  and 
Campbell,  on  the  basis  of  my  letter  to  F.  P.  Blair,  Esq.,  of 
January  18th,  1865,  a  copy  of  which  you  have.  You  will 
make  known  to  them  that  three  things  are  indispensable,  to  wit : 
First,  the  restoration  of  the  national  authority  throughout  all  the 
States  ;  second,  no  receding  by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States  on 
the  slavery  question  from  the  position  assumed  thereon  in  the  late 
annual  message  to  Congress,  and  in  the  preceding  documents ;  no 
cessation  of  hostilities  short  of  the  end  of  the  war,  and  the  disbanding 
of  all  the  forces  hostile  to  the  government.  You  will  inform  them 
that  all  propositions  of  theirs,  not  inconsistent  with  the  above, 
will  be  considered,  and  passed  upon  in  a  spirit  of  sincere  liber 
ality.  You  will  hear  all  they  may  choose  to  say,  and  repeat  it 
to  me.  You  will  not  assume  definitely  to  consummate  any 
thing.  Yours,  etc., 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

The  next  morning,  February  1st,  in  order  to  prevent 
any  attempt  at  trickery  by  the  rebels,  he  sent  a  cipher 
despatch  to  General  Grant,  informing  him  that  nothing 
then  transpiring  was  to  "  change,  hinder,  or  delay"  any 
of  his  military  movements  or  plans. 

In  reply,  General  Grant  intimated  to  Secretary 
Stanton  that  it  might  be  as  well  if  the  President  could 
personally  be  present  at  the  conference,  as  he,  the  gen- 


576  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

eral,  believed  "  their  desire  sincere  to  restore  peace  and 
Union/'  alluding  to  the  three  commissioners.  To  which 
Mr.  Lincoln,  ever  desirous  for  peace,  telegraphed,  on  the 
morning  of  February  2d,  to  Secretary  Seward,  as  follows  : 
"  Induced  by  a  despatch  from  General  Grant,  I  join  you 
at  Fortress  Monroe  as  soon  as  I  can  come ;"  while  to 
General  Grant  he  telegraphed  :  "  Say  to  the  gentlemen 
that  I  will  meet  them  personally  at  Fortress  Monroe,  as 
soon  as  I  can  get  there." 

He  reached  the  fortress  on  the  night  of  February  2d, 
plainly  showing  that  he  had  delayed  no  time  when  he 
believed  a  peace  could  be  obtained  upon  the  basis  of  the 
Union,  and  next  morning,  February  3d,  joined  the 
Secretary  of  State  and  Major  Eckert  on  board  the 
steamer  River  Queen,  then  anchored  in  the  "  Roads." 

The  commissioners  then  came  on  board  and  held  a 
conference  with  the  President  and  his  Secretary,  which 
lasted  four  hours,  and  was  perfectly  friendly  and  good- 
tempered  throughout.  Not  a  word  was  said  on  either 
side  indicating  any  but  amicable  sentiments.  On  our 
side  the  conversation  was  mainly  conducted  by  the 
President ;  on  theirs  by  Mr.  Hunter,  Mr.  Stephens  occa 
sionally  taking  part.  The  commissioners  said  nothing 
whatever  of  their  personal  views  or  wishes ;  speaking 
solely  and  exclusively  for  their  government,  and,  at  the 
outset  and  throughout  the  conference,  declaring  their 
entire  lack  of  authority  to  make,  receive,  or  consider 
any  proposition  whatever  looking  toward  a  close  of  the 
war,  except  on  the  basis  of  a  recognition  of  the  indepen 
dence  of  the  Confederate  States  as  a  preliminary  condi 
tion.  The  President  presented  the  subject  to  them  in 
every  conceivable  form,  suggesting  the  most  liberal  and 


THE    CONCLUSION    OF    THE    WAR.  577 

considerate  modification  of  whatever,  in  the  existing 
legislation  and  action  of  the  United  States  Government, 
might  be  regarded  as  specially  hostile  to  the  rights  and 
interests,  or  wounding  the  pride  of  the  southern  people 
— but  in  no  particular  could  he  induce  them  to 
swerve,  even  for  a  moment,  from  their  demand  for 
recognition.  They  did  not,  however,  express  this  as 
their  own  conviction  or  wish,  but  as  the  condition 
which  their  instructions  rendered  absolutely  indispensa 
ble  to  any  negotiations  or  discussions  whatever  concern 
ing  peace. 

The  President  on  the  other  hand  refused,  at  every 
point,  to  entertain  the  idea  of  any  such  recognition  for  a 
moment,  affirming  that  the  United  States  could  only 
stop  the  war  and  arrest,  even  temporarily,  the  movement 
of  its  armies,  on  the  condition  of  the  recognition  of  the 
authority  of  the  national  government  over  the  whole 
territory  of  the  United  States.  This  point  conceded  he 
assured  them  that  in  other  minor  matters  of  difference 
they  would  meet  with  the  utmost  liberality ;  but  without 
that  recognition  the  war  must  and  would  go  on. 

Upon  this  radical  and  irreconcilable  difference,  the 
whole  discussion  turned,  and,  as  neither  side  could  be 
swerved  from  its  position,  the  attempt  at  negotiation 
came  to  a  futile  end — and  the  parties  separated,  dis 
tinctly  understanding  that  the  attitude  and  action  of 
each  government  was  not,  in  the  slightest  degree,  affected 
or  changed  by  the  conference.* 

*  The  spirit  and  result  of  this  conference  is  thus  stated  by  Mr.  Lincoln 
himself,  in  his  Report  (January  16th,  1865),  accompanying  the  documents 
furnished  in  response  to  a  resolution  of  enquiry  by  the  House. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  3d  the  three  gentlemen,  Messrg,  Stephens, 
37 


578  THE   LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Since  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  Mr.  Stephens' 
account  of  the  celebrated  conference  has  come  to  light, 

Hunter  and  Campbell,  came  aboard  of  our  steamer,  and  had  an  interview 
with  the  Secretary  of  State  and  myself  of  several  hours  duration.  No 
question  of  preliminaries  to  the  meeting  was  then  and  there  made  or 
mentioned.  No  other  person  was  present.  No  papers  were  exchanged 
or  produced,  and  it  was  in  advance  agreed  that  the  conversation  was  to 
be  informal  and  verbal  merely.  On  our  part  the  whole  substance  of  the 
instructions  to  the  Secretary  of  State  hereinbefore  recited  was  stated  and 
insisted  upon,  and  nothing  was  said  inconsistent  therewith.  While  by 
the  other  party  it  was  not  said  that  in  any  event  or  on  any  condition  they 
ever  would  consent  to  reunion;  and  yet  they  equally  omitted  to  declare 
they  would  so  consent.  They  seemed  to  desire  a  postponement  of  that 
question,  and  the  adoption  of  some  other  course  first,  which  as  some 
of  them  seemed  to  argue  might  or  might  not  lead  to  reunion,  but  which 
course  we  thought  would  amount  to  an  indefinite  postponement.  The 
conference  ended  without  result." 

The  Secretary  of  State  thus  describes  the  interview  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Adams,  our  minister  in  England,  under  date  of  February  9th,  1865 : 

"  The  conference  was  altogether  informal.  There  was  no  attendance  of 
secretaries,  clerks  or  other  witnesses.  Nothing  was  written  or  read.  The 
conversation,  though  earnest  and  free,  was  calm  and  courteous  and  kind 
on  both  sides.  The  Richmond  party  approached  the  discussion  rather 
indirectly,  and  at  no  time  did  they  make  categorical  demands  or  tender 
formal  stipulations  or  absolute  refusals. 

"Nevertheless,  during  the  conference — which  lasted  four  hours — the 
several  points  at  issue  between  the  government  and  the  insurgents  were 
distinctly  raised  and  discussed  fully,  intelligently,  and  in  an  amicable  spirit. 
What  the  insurgent  party  seemed  chiefly  to  favor  was  a  postponement 
of  the  question  of  separation  upon  which  the  war  is  waged,  and  a  mutual 
direction  of  the  efforts  of  the  government  as  well  as  those  of  the  insur 
gents  to  some  extrinsic  policy  or  scheme  for  a  season;  during  which 
passions  might  be  expected  to  subside  and  the  armies  be  reduced,  and 
trade  and  intercourse  between  the  people  of  both  sections  be  resumed. 
It  was  suggested  by  them  that  through  such  postponement  we  might  now 
have  immediate  peace,  with  some  not  very  certain  prospect  of  an  ultimate 
satisfactory  adjustment  of  political  relations  between  the  government, 
and  the  States,  section  or  people  now  engaged  in  conflict  with  it. 

"The  suggestion,  though  deliberately  considered,  was,  nevertheless, 
regarded  by  the  President  as  one  of  armistice  or  truce,  and  he  announced 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF   THE   WAR.  570 

and  we  copy  portions  of  it  from  the  Augusta  (Georgia), 
Chronicle,  of  June  17th?  1865. 

"STATEMENT  BY  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

"  We  have  before  stated  that  Mr.  Davis,  late  President  of  the 
States  engaged  in  the  Rebellion,  had  not  communicated  to  the 
people  who  had  elected  him,  and  trusted  him,  the  truth  in 
regard  to  the  famed  Fortress  Monroe  Conference. 

"  Now  that  the  aforesaid  Davis  has  no  longer  power  to  arrest 

that  we  can  agree  to  no  cessation  or  suspension  of  hostilities  except  on 
the  basis  of  the  disbandment  of  the  insurgent  forces  and  the  restoration 
of  the  national  authority  throughout  all  the  States  in  the  Union.  Col 
laterally  and  in  subordination  to  the  proposition  which  was  thus  an 
nounced  the  anti-slavery  policy  of  the  United  States  was  reviewed  in  all 
its  bearings,  and  the  President  announced  that  he  must  not  be  expected 
to  depart  from  the  positions  he  had  heretofore  assumed  in  his  Proclama 
tion  of  Emancipation  and  other  documents,  as  these  positions  were  re 
iterated  in  his  annual  message. 

"  It  was  further  declared  by  the  President  that  the  complete  restoration 
of  the  national  authority  everywhere  was  an  indispensable  condition  of 
any  assent  on  our  part  to  whatever  form  of  peace  might  be  proposed. 
The  President  assured  the  other  party  that  while  he  must  adhere  to 
these  positions,  he  would  be  prepared  so  far  as  power  is  lodged  with  the 
Executive  to  exercise  liberality.  Its  power,  however,  is  limited  by  the 
Constitution,  and,  when  peace  should  be  made,  Congress  must  necessarily 
act  in  regard  to  appropriations  of  money  and  to  the  admission  of  repre 
sentatives  from  the  insurrectionary  States. 

"  The  Richmond  party  were  then  informed  that  Congress  had,  on  the 
31st  ult.,  adopted  by  a  constitutional  majority  a  joint  resolution  sub 
mitting  to  the  several  States  the  proposition  to  abolish  slavery  through 
out  the  Union,  and  that  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  that  it  will  be 
accepted  by  three-fourths  of  the  States,  so  as  to  become  a  part  of  the 
national  organic  law. 

"  The  conference  came  to  an  end  by  mutual  acquiescence,  without  pro 
ducing  an  agreement  of  views  upon  the  several  matters  discussed  or  any 
of  them.  Nevertheless,  it  is  perhaps  of  some  importance  that  we  have 
been  able  to  submit  our  opinions  and  views  directly  to  prominent  insur 
gents,  and  to  hear  them  in  answer  in  a  courteous  and  not  unfriendly 
manner." 


580  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  confine  persons  without  the  benefit  of  habeas  corpus ;  or 
his  organs  to  instigate  mobs  of  soldiers  and  irresponsible 
men  to  threaten  destruccion  to  life  and  private  property;  or 
officials  to  arrest  persons  and  suppress  papers  for  publications 
without  his  sanction,  it  may  be  as  well  to  let  people  know  the 
truth. 

"  We  will  now  give  the  history  of  the  convention  as  nearly 
as  we  can  remember  it  from  the  statement  of  Mr.  Stephens  to 
us  directly  after  his  return. 

"A  PKIVATE  CONFERENCE  DECLARED  IMPERATIVE  BY 
STEPHENS. 

"  Mr.  Davis  sent  for  him  to  communicate  the  information  that 
Mr.  Blair  desired  a  conference  between  the  authorities  of  the 
United  States  and  the  southern  States  upon  the  subject  of 
peace,  and  Mr.  Stephens'  advice  was  asked.  He  promptly  re 
plied  that  if  Mr.  Blair  spoke  by  authority  of  President  Lincoln, 
he  most  earnestly  advised  the  conference.  But  that,  as  the 
terms  of  peace,  if  favorable  to  the  South,  would  awaken  angry 
debate  from  the  radical  men  of  the  North,  and  a  failure  to  get 
terms  but  dishearten  our  own  people,  he  recommended,  first, 
that  the  strictest  secrecy  be  used :  second,  that  the  parties  to 
the  conference  be  President  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Davis,  and  that 
Generals  Grant  and  Lee  be  the  only  ones  to  even  know  of  the 
meeting. 

"  The  advice  was  taken  as  usual  in  Kichmond — disregarded 
altogether— and  by  officially  telegraphing  the  news  to  every 
corner  of  the  late  so-called  Confederacy.  Two  days  later  Mr. 
Stephens  was  surprised  by  the  information  from  Mr.  Benjamin 
that  a  committee  of  three  were  to  go,  consisting  of  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  Vice  President ;  E.  M.  T.  Hunter,  Senator  from 
Virginia ;  and  John  A.  Campbell,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War. 
Mr.  Stephens  saw  at  once  that  to  refuse  to  go  would  subject 
him  to  unfriendly  remarks,  and  that  probably  he  would  have 
the  responsibility  of  failure  to  make  peace  thrown  upon  his 
shoulders.  So  he  went,  merely  remarking  to  Mr.  Campbell, 


THE    CONCLUSION    OF    THE    WAR.  581 

1  that  the  old  story  of  the  monkey  that  took  the  paw  of  the  cat 
to  pull  his  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  was  not  without  some 
modern  illustrations ;'  to  which  Mr.  Campbell  said  that  '  he 
thought  so  too,  and  did  not  like  it.' 

"PEACE   DESIRED   BY   BOTH   ARMIES. 

"  The  flag  of  truce  and  the  loud  and  prolonged  cheers  of 
both  armies,  that  gave  the  lie  to  the  statement  of  southern 
administration  organs  that  the  veterans  were  opposed  to 
peace,  and  the  two  day's  enjoyment  of  the  hospitality  of  that 
glorious  soldier  Grant,  are  history  well  known,  Probably  but 
for  the  indorsement  of  the  peace  wishes  of  Stephens  and 
Hunter  by  General  Grant,  the  interview  would  not  have  been 
granted.  The  reason  why  the  general  did  not  include  Mr. 
Campbell  in  the  indorsement  was,  that  Mr.  Campbell  was  per 
fectly  satisfied  that  the  country  was  whipped  then,  and  prepared 
to  take  what  he  could  get,  and  therefore  did  not  talk ;  while 
Mr.  Hunter,  who  was  not  much  for  reconstruction,  talked  the 
most. 

"  THE    CONFERENCE. 

"  The  three  southern  gentlemen  met  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr. 
Seward,  and  after  some  preliminary  remarks,  the  subject  of 
peace  was  opened.  Mr.  Stephens,  well  aware  that  one  who  asks 
much  may  get  more  than  he  who  confesses  to  humble  wishes 
at  the  outset,  urged  the  claims  of  his  section  with  that  skill  and 
address  for  which  the  northers  papers  have  given  him  credit. 
Mr.  Lincoln,  holding  the  vantage-ground  of  conscious  power, 
was,  however,  perfectly  frank,  and  submitted  his  views  almost 
in  the  form  of  an  argument. 

"THE  REPORT  OF  THE  REBEL  COMMISSIONERS. 

"  The  report  of  Messrs.  Stephens,  Hunter  and  Campbell  we 
give  as  follows : 

"  'RICHMOND,  Feb.  6,  1865. 
" '  To  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  STATES  : 

"  '  SIR  : — Under  your  letter  of  appointment  as  commissioners, 


582  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

of  the  28th  ult.,  we  proceeded  to  seek  an  informal  conference 
with  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  upon 
the  subject  mentioned  in  the  letter.  Conference  was  granted, 
and  took  place  on  the  30th  of  December,  on  board  a  steamer 
anchored  in  Hampton  Eoads,  where  we  met  President  Lincoln 
and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  for  the  United 
States.  It  continued  for  several  hours,  and  was  both  full  and 
explicit. 

"  l  We  learned  from  them  that  the  message  of  President  Lin 
coln  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  in  December  last, 
explains  clearly  his  sentiments  as  to  the  terms,  conditions,  and 
mode  of  procedure  by  which  peace  can  be  secured  to  the  people, 
and  we  are  not  informed  that  they  would  be  modified  or  altered 
to  obtain  that  end.  We  understand  from  him  that  no  terms  or 
proposals  of  any  treaty  or  agreement  looking  to  the  ultimate 
settlement  would  be  entertained  or  made  by  him  with  the 
authorities  of  the  Confederate  States,  because  that  would  be  a 
recognition  of  their  existence  as  a  separate  power,  which  under 
no  circumstances  would  be  done.  And  for  like  reasons,  that  no 
such  terms  would  be  entertained  by  him  from  separate  States  ; 
that  no  extended  truce  or  armistice,  as  at  present  advised, 
would  be  granted  or  allowed,  without  satisfactory  assurance, 
in  advance,  of  the  complete  restoration  of  the  authority  of  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  over  all  places  within 
the  States  of  the  Confederacy.' 

"  This  appears  to  have  been  the  principal  topic  of  discussion. 
Davis  had  on  this  occasion,  as  on  that  of  Mr.  Stephens'  visit  to 
Washington,  made  it  a  condition  that  no  conference  should  be 
had  unless  his  rank  as  commander  or  President  should  first  be 
recognized.  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  that  the  only  ground  on 
which  he  could  rest  the  justice  of  the  war — either  with  his  own 
people  or  with  foreign  powers — was  that  it  was  not  a  war  for 
conquest,  but  that  the  States  had  never  been  separated  from  the 
Union.  Consequently,  he  could  not  recognize  another  govern 
ment  inside  of  the  one  of  which  he  alone  was  President,  nor 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF   THE   WAR.  583 

admit  the  separate  independence  of  States  that  were  yet  a  part 
of  the  Union.  .  '  That,'  said  he,  '  would  be  doing  what  you  have 
so  long  asked  Europe  to  do  in  vain,  and  be  resigning  the  only 
thing  the  armies  of  the  Union  are  fighting  for.' 

"  MR.  LINCOLN   SUPPRESSES  HUNTER — A   HARD   HIT. 

"  Mr.  Hunter  made  a  long  reply,  insisting  that  the  recog 
nition  of  Davis's  power  to  make  a  treaty  was  the  first  and  indis 
pensable  step  to  peace,  and  referring  to  the  correspondence 
between  King  Charles  I.  and  his  parliament  as  a  trustworthy 
precedent  of  a  constitutional  ruler  treating  with  rebels. 

"Mr.  Lincoln's  face  then  wore  that  indescribable  expresssion 
which  generally  preceded  his  hardest  hits,  and  he  remarked : — 
e  Upon  questions  of  history  I  must  refer  you  to  Mr.  Seward,  for 
he  is  posted  in  such  things,  and  I  don't  pretend  to  be  bright. 
My  only  distinct  recollection  of  the  matter  is,  that  Charles  lost 
his  head.'  That  settled  Mr.  Hunter  for  a  while. 

"  '  UNCONDITIONAL   SURRENDER.' 

"  Little  appears  to  have  been  said  about  an  armistice.  Mr. 
Lincoln  persisted  in  his  declaration  that  the  country  demanded 
the  restoration  of  the  Union  and  its  laws.  The  report  goes  on: 

"  'Mr.  Lincoln  remarked  that  whatever  consequences  may 
follow  from  the  re-establishment  of  that  authority  must  be 
accepted ;  but  individuals  subject  to  pains  and  penalties  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  might  rely  upon  a  very  liberal 
use  of  the  powers  confided  to  him  to  remit  those  pains  and 
penalties  if  peace  be  restored. 

" '  Limited  as  he  was  by  the  Constitution,  he  could  not 
change  or  impair  the  power  of  Congress,  nor  abolish  its  laws, 
nor  stay  the  judgments  of  the  courts ;  for  the  legislative  and 
judicial  power  had  coequal  jurisdiction  with  the  executive. 
But  he  did  offer  all  the  power  of  mercy,  and  pardon,  and  influ 
ence,  both  as  the  Chief  Magistrate  and  as  a  popular  party  leader, 


584  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  that  is  a  better  offer  than  rebels  on  the  eve  of  destruction 
and  ruin  ever  had  before  from  a  victorious  power.' 

"SOME   GOOD  ADVICE   BY  THE   PRESIDENT — A   CHARACTERISTIC 

REMARK. 

"  During  the  interview  it  appears  that  Hunter  declared  that 
he  had  never  entertained  any  fears  for  his  person  or  life  from 
so  mild  a  government  as  that  of  the  United  States.  To  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  retorted  that  he,  also,  had  felt  easy  as  to  the  rebels, 
but  not  always  so  easy  about  the  lamp-posts  around  Washing 
ton  city — a  hint  that  he  had  already  done  more  favors  for  the 
rebels  than  was  exactly  popular  with  the  radical  men  of  his 
own  party. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln's  manner  had  now  grown  more  positive.  He 
suggested  that  it  would  be  better  for  the  rebel  States  to  return 
at  once  than  to  risk  the  chances  of  continuing  the  war,  and  the 
increasing  bitterness  of  feeling  in  Congress.  The  time  might 
come,  he  said,  when  they  would  not  be  considered  as  an  erring 
people  invited  back  to  citizenship,  but  would  be  looked  upon 
as  enemies  to  be  exterminated  or  ruined. 

"  DISCUSSION    UPON    THE    ANTI-SLAVERY   AMENDMENT  TO    THE 
CONSTITUTION. 

"  During  the  conference,  the  amendment  to  the  Federal  Con 
stitution,  which  has  just  been  adopted  by  Congress,  was  read, 
providing  that  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  ex 
cept  for  crimes,  should  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any 
place  within  its  jurisdiction,  and  Congress  should  have  power 
to  enforce  the  amendment  by  appropriate  legislation.  The 
report  says : 

"  Mr.  Seward  then  remarked :  l  Mr.  President,  it  is  as  well  to 
inform  these  gentlemen  that  yesterday  Congress  acted  upon  the 
amendment  of  the  Constitution  abolishing  slavery.' 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  stated  that  was  true,  and  suggested  that  there 
was  a  question  as  to  the  right  of  the  insurgent  States  to  return 


THE    CONCLUSION    OF    THE    WAR.  585 

at  once  and  claim  a  right  to  vote  upon  the  amendment,  to 
which  the  concurrence  of  two  thirds  of  the  State  was  required. 
He  stated  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  have  the  institution  of 
slavery  abolished  by  the  consent  of  the  people  as  soon  as 
possible — he  hoped  within  six  years.  He  also  stated  that  four 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  might  be  offered  as  compensation 
to  the  owners,  and  remarked,  'You  would  be  surprised  were  I 
to  give  you  the  names  of  those  who  favored  that.' 

"THE    'ROOT   HOG'    STORY. 

"  Mr.  Hunter  said  something  about  the  inhumanity  of  leav 
ing  so  many  poor  old  negroes  and  young  children  destitute  by 
encouraging  the  able-bodied  negroes  to  run  away,  and  asked, 
what  are  they — the  helpless — to  do  ? 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  said  that  reminded  him  of  an  old  friend  in 
Illinois,  who  had  a  crop  of  potatoes,  and  did  not  want  to  dig 
them.  So  he  told  a  neighbor  that  he  would  turn  in  his  hogs, 
and  let  them  dig  them  for  themselves.  '  But,'  said  the  neighbor, 
'  the  frost  will  soon  be  in  the  ground,  and  when  the  soil  is  hard 
frozen,  what  will  they  do  then?'  To  which  the  worthy  farmer 
replied,  'Let  'em  root.' 

"  Mr.  Stephens  said  lie  supposed  that  was  the  original  of 
1  Root,  Hog,  or  Die,'  and  a  fair  indication  of  the  future  of  the 
negroes. 

"  Of  all  correspondence  that  preceded  the  conference  herein 
mentioned,  and  leading  to  same,  you  have  heretofore  been  in 
formed.  Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

(Signed)  "ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS, 

"K.  M.  T.  HUNTER, 
"  JOHN  A.  CAMPBELL. 

"The  commissioners  remark  that  all  that  is  known  of  this 
correspondence  they  'have  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Seward,  as 
Mr.  Davis  never  favored  them  with  it.'  Mr.  Stephens  reported 
to  Mr.  Davis  that  nothing  had  been  done,  that  nothing  was 
determined,  and  that  if  he  relied  upon  the  sincerity  of  Mr. 


586  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Blair,  the  conference  was  but  a  confirmation  of  the  desire  for 
peace  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  the  way  opened  for 
settlement.  Mr.  Davis,  however,  looked  upon  the  proposals  as 
insulting,  and  seemed  to  have  the  concurrence  of  Mr.  Hunter 
in  that  view — somewhat.  He  wished  a  statement  to  go  before 
the  public  that  only  insulting  terms  were  tendered ;  but  the 
commissioners  declined  to  make  it,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
not  true. 

"HOW  DAVIS  DOCTORED  THE  KEPOKT. 

"  With  some  difficulty  they  secured  the  reception  of  the  brief 
and  perfectly  truthful,  but  not  very  clear,  report  that  was  pub 
lished,  and  Mr.  Davis  put  the  coloring  to  it,  and  endeavored  to 
secure  his  object  of  crushing  the  great  southern  peace  party  by 
an  inflammatory  despatch  all  over  the  country,  followed  by  the 
actual  report,  with  the  following  ingenious  preface,  written  by 
himself : 

"'  EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  EICHMOND,  February  6, 1865. 

" '  To  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
CONFEDERATE  STATES: — I  recently  received  a  written  notifica 
tion  which  satisfied  me  that  the  President  of  the  United  States 
was  disposed  to  confer  informally  with  any  official  agents  that 
might  be  sent  by  me  with  a  view  to  the  restoration  of  peace.  I 
requested  the  Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens,  Hon.  E.  M.  T.  Hunter,  and 
Hon.  John  A.  Campbell,  to  proceed  through  our  lines  and  hold 
conference  with  Lincoln,  or  such  persons  as  he  might  depute  to 
represent  him. 

"'I  herewith  submit,  for  the  information  of  Congress,  the 
report  of  these  eminent  citizens  above,  named,  showing  that  the 
enemy  refused  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  the  Confederate 
States,  or  any  of  them  separately,  or  give  our  people  any  other 
terms  or  guarantees  than  those  which  Congress  may  grant,  or 
to  permit  us  to  have  a  vote  on  any  other  basis  than  our  uncon 
ditional  submission  to  their  rule,  coupled  with  the  acceptance 
of  their  recent  legislation,  including  the  amendment  to  the 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF    THE   WAR.  587 

Constitution  emancipating  all  negro  slaves ;  and  with  the  right, 
on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Congress,  to  legislate  on  the  subject 
of  the  relations  between  the  white  and  black  populations  in. 
each  State.  Such  is,  as  I  understand,  the  effect  of  the  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution  which  has  been  adopted  by  the  Con 
gress  of  the  United  States. 

"'JEFFERSON   DAVIS.' 

"  This  was  closely  followed  by  mass-meetings  in  the  capital 
and  elsewhere.  How  strange  it  is  that  all  these  bloody-minded 
men,  who  advocated  the  '  black  flag,'  and  '  no  quarters,'  upon  our 
street  corners,  contented  themselves  with  words  ?  and  with  all 
this  hate  of  Yankees,  never  undertook  to  find  them  at  the  front, 
where  there  have  been  lots  of  them  to  be  found  for  four  years. 
Mr.  Davis  said  in  one  of  those  Kichmond  meetings  in  his 
speech :  '  We  will  teach  them  that  when  they  talk  to  us  they 
talk  to  their  masters.' 

"  FIRE-EATERS'  LIES  ABOUT  STEPHENS. 

"  Mr.  Stephens  came  home  with  a  new  cause  of  sorrow,  and 
those  who  said  he  talked  of  coming  home  to  make  war-speeches 
and  denounce  the  terms  offered,  simply  lied.  Before  Mr. 
Lincoln's  death,  he  thought  he  was  doing  a  favor  to  him  not  to 
include  that  offer  of  four  hundred  millions  in  gold  for  the 
southern  slaves,  in  the  published  report,  for  it  would  be  used 
to  the  injury  of  Mr.  Lincoln  by  those  of  his  enemies  who  talk 
about  taxation  and  the  debt. 

"  MR.  STEPHENS'  OPINION  OF  MR.  LINCOLN. 

"Mr.  Stephens  has  frequently  expressed  no  apprehensions 
should  the  fortunes  of  war  throw  him  into  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  said  he  would  not  get  out  of  the  way  of  a  raid 
were  it  not  for  appearances,  on  account  of  the  office  he  held. 
He  spoke  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  an  old  friend  who  had  generally 
voted  with  him  in  Congress,  and  who  had  a  good  heart  and 
fine  mind,  and  was  undoubtedly  honest." 


588  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1865,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugu 
rated  for  a  second  term  of  four  years,  to  which  he  had 
been  chosen  by  the  people.  As  the  day  was  rainy,  the 
ceremonies  began  in  the  Senate  chamber,  which  the 
official  procession  entered  at  twelve  o'clock.  The  mem 
bers  of  the  Supreme  Court  first  took  their  seats  on  the 
right  of  the  Vice  President's  chair,  soon  after  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  entered,  escorted  by  Vice  President  Hamlin,  and 
followed  by  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  the  diplomatic 
corps,  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  who  have  received 
the  thanks  of  Congress,  governors,  etc.  Vice  President 
Hamlin  briefly  took  his  leave  of  the  Senate,  over  which 
he  presided  for  four  years,  and  the  oath  of  office  was 
then  administered  to  his  successor,  Andrew  Johnson, 
and  the  Senators  elect  to  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress. 
When  this  was  concluded,  the  official  procession  again 
formed,  and  moved  to  the  platform  in  front  of  the  eastern 
front  of  the  Capitol,  where  Mr.  Lincoln  pronounced  the 
following 

INAUGURAL    ADDRESS. 

"  FELLOW  COUNTRYMEN  : — At  this  second  appearing  to  take 
the  oath  of  the  Presidential  office,  there  is  less  occasion  for  an 
extended  address  than  there  was  at  first.  Then  a  statement  of 
a  course  to  be  pursued  seemed  very  fitting  and  proper. 

"Now,  at  the  expiration  of  four  years,  during  which  public 
declarations  have  been  constantly  called  forth  on  every  point 
and  phase  of  the  great  contest  which  still  absorbs  the  attention 
and  engrosses  the  energies  of  the  nation,  little  that  is  new  could 
be  presented. 

"  The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly  de 
pends,  is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself,  and  it  is,  I 
trust,  reasonably  satisfactory  and  encouraging  to  all.  With 
high  hopes  for  the  future,  no  prediction  in  regard  to  it  is  ven 
tured. 


THE    CONCLUSION    OF    THE    WAR.  589 

"  On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this,  four  years  ago,  all 
thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impending'  civil  war. 
All  dreaded  it ;  all  sought  to  avoid  it. 

"  While  the  inaugural  address  was  being  delivered  from  this 
place,  devoted  altogether  to  saving  the  Union  without  war, 
insurgent  agents  were  in  the  city  seeking  to  destroy  it  without 
war  ;  seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union*  and  divide  the  effects  by 
negotiation.  Both  parties  deprecated  war,  but  one  of  them 
would  make  war  rather  than  let  the  nation  survive,  and  the 
other  would  accept  war  rather  than  let  it  perish ;  and  the  war 
came. 

"  One  eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  colored  slaves,  not 
distributed  generally  over  the  Union,  but  localized  in  the 
southern  part  of  it. 

"  These  slaves  constituted  a  peculiar  and  powerful  interest. 
All  knew  that  this  interest  was  somehow  the  cause  of  the  war. 
To  strengthen,  perpetuate,  and  extend  this  interest  was  the 
object  for  which  the  insurgents  would  rend  the  Union  by  war, 
while  the  government  claimed  no  right  to  more  than  restrict 
the  territorial  enlargement  of  it. 

"  Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or  the 
duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  anticipated 
that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease  with,  or  even  before 
the  conflict  itself  should  cease.  Each  looked  for  an  easier 
triumph,  and  a  result  less  fundamental  and  astounding. 

"  Both  read  the  same  Bible  and  pray  to  the  same  God,  and 
each  invokes  his  aid  against  the  other.  It  may  seem  strange 
that  any  men  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in 
wringing  their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces  :  but 
let  us  judge  not,  that  we  may  not  be  judged.  The  prayer  of 
both  could  not  be  answered.  That  of  neither  has  been  answered 
fully.  The  Almighty  has  his  own  purposes.  '  Woe  unto  the 
world  because  of  offences,  for  it  must  needs  be  that  offences 
come,  but  woe  unto  the  man  by  whom  the  offence  cometh.'  If 
we  shall  suppose  that  American  slavery  is  one  of  these  offences 


590  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

which,  in  the  providence  of  God,  must  needs  come,  but  which, 
having  continued  through  his  appointed  time,  he  now  wills  to 
remove,  and  that  he  gives  to  both  North  and  South  this  terrible 
war  as  the  woe  due  to  those  by  whom  the  offence  came,  shall 
we  discern  therein  any  departure  from  those  divine  attributes 
which  the  believers  in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to  Him  ? 

"  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that  this  mighty 
scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills  that 
it  continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and 
until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by 
another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand 
years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  the  judgments  of  the  Lord 
are  true  and  righteous  altogether. 

"  With  malice  toward  no  one,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firm 
ness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive 
on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds, 
to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his 
widow  and  his  orphans,  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and 
cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all 
nations." 

The  oath  of  office  was  then  administered  by  Chief 
Justice  Chase,  and  the  reinaugurated  President  was 
escorted  back  to  the  White  House. 

The  Presidential  election  having  passed,  public  atten 
tion  was  once  more  absorbed  by  the  operations  of  our 
army  and  navy,  still  occupied  in  every  portion  of  the 
field,  in  carrying  out  the  admirable  plans  inaugurated 
by  the  Lieutenant-General  for  the  final  overthrow  of  the 
rebellion. 

In  the  Southwest,  the  rebel  General  Hood,  rallying 
somewhat  from  the  severe  defeats  which  he  had  suffered, 
made  an  attempt  to  cut  Sherman's  communications  with 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF   THE   WAR.  591 

his  base.  The  latter  giving  him,  as  a  decoy,  every  facil 
ity  of  doing  so,  sent  General  Thomas  with  two  corps  to 
watch  him  on  the  Tennessee  river,  and  having  thus  lured 
him  to  a  sufficient  distance,  destroyed  the  railroad  be 
tween  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta,  and  cutting  boldly  loose 
from  his  base  at  the  latter  point,  commenced  his  grand 
inarch  of  nearly  three  hundred  miles  across  the  country 
to  Savannah,  which  surrendered  to  him  on  the  22d  of 
December.  Hood,  meantime,  had  rashly  pushed  after 
Thomas,  who  purposely  drew  him  on,  and  after  being 
severely  whipped  at  Franklin,  attempted  to  surround 
Nashville.  On  the  15th  of  December,  however,  he  was 
attacked  by  the  Union  forces,  and  completely  routed, 
having  sustained  a  loss  of  nearly  seventeen  thousand 
men  in  these  two  en-gagements. 

While  Sherman  and  Thomas  were  dealing  these 
tremendous  blows  in  this  portion  of  the  Confederacy, 
General  Grant  was  as  ably  fulfilling  his  part  of  the  pro 
gramme.  On  the  13th  of  December,  he  sent  a  combined 
military  and  naval  expedition,  under  General  Butler  and 
Rear-Admiral  Porter,  to  capture  Wilmington.  This,  prov 
ing  unsuccessful,  was  shortly  followed  by  another,  under 
command  of  General  A.  Terry,  which  gallantly  accom 
plished  its  purpose,  on  the  15th  of  January,  by  the  capture 
of  Fort  Fisher;  thus  effectually  sealing  the  harbor  which 
had,  hitherto,  been  accessible  to  blockade-runners,  to  a 
greater  degree,  almost,  than  any  other  port  on  the  coast. 
Early  in  February  a  forward  movement  was  made  by 
Grant,  himself,  with  four  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  his  lines  closer  to  the 
Weldon  railroad.  Thereupon  ensued  a  desperate  struggle 
of  several  days'  duration,  which  resulted  in  a  permanent 


592  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

gain,  held  by  the  Union  forces,  of  a  position  four  miles 
in  advance  of  their  former  one.  Then  followed,  on  the 
25th  of  March,  a  successful  attack,  by  the  rebels,  on 
Fort  Steadman,  near  Petersburg,  and  the  capture  of  its 
garrison ;  but  the  Union  troops  retook  the  fort,  and 
gained  and  held  in  turn  a  portion  of  the  rebel  lines. 
Four  days  after  this,  General  Grant  undertook  to  give  his 
foe  the  coup  de  grace  ;  attacking  with  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  in  front,  while  the  Army  of  the  James  forced 
the  enemy's  right  flank  ;  and  Sheridan,  with  a  large 
cavalry  force,  distracting  Lee's  attention  by  a  blow  at  the 
junction  of  the  Southside,  Richmond  and  Danville  rail 
roads,  suddenly  wheeled,  struck  the  southside  railroad 
within  ten  miles  of  Petersburg,  and  tearing  it  up  as  he 
went,  fell  upon  the  rebel  left  flank.  The  four  days  of 
terrible  conflict,  which  ensued,  resulted  in  placing  Pe 
tersburg  completely  at  the  mercy  of  the  national  armies. 
On  the  night  of  Sunday,  April  2d,  Petersburg  and 
Richmond  were  evacuated,  and  both  were  occupied  by  the 
"  brave  boys  in  blue  "  the  next  morning,  April  3d  ;  the 
colored  troops,  under  General  Weitzel,  having  the  honor 
of  first  entering  the  fallen  rebel  capital.  Lee,  having 
lost  nearly  half  of  his  army,*  and  with  the  balance 
utterly  demoralized,  fled  toward  Danville,  but  finding 
his  route  obstructed  turned  toward  Lynchburg,  with 
General  Grant  in  hot  pursuit.  On  the  6th  of  April,  he 
was  overtaken  by  Sheridan  and  Meade,  at  Deatonville, 
and  met  with  a  crushing  defeat.  Seven  of  his  generals 
and  many  thousands  of  his  troops,  with  most  of  his  guns, 
were  captured.  He  made  a  futile  attempt  to  escape  with 

*  General  Lee  lost  about  eighteen  thousand,  who  were  taken  prisoners, 
and  very  nearly  eight  to  ten  thousand  in  killed  and  wounded. 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF   THE  WAR.  593 

the  remnant  of  his  force,  but  finding  every  avenue  of 
escape  closed  against  him,  was  compelled  to  surrender  on 
Sunday,  the  9th  of  April,  1865,  on  the  terms  offered  by 
his  captor,  General  Grant.  Thus  the  Confederacy  re 
ceived  its  death-blow. 

Meanwhile,  Sherman,  moving  northward  from  Savan 
nah  in  two  columns,  flanked  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  com 
pelled  its  evacuation  without  the  necessity  of  striking  a 
blow ;  captured  Columbia,  Cheraw  and  Fayetteville,  and 
being  joined  by  Schofield's  and  Terry's  armies  occupied 
Goldsborough,  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
Grant's  army,  and  connected  by  a  railroad  which  could 
be  rapidly  repaired.  Between  these  two  great  armies  of 
the  Union  there  remained,  after  Lee's  surrender,  only 
General  Johnston's  daily  weakening  force,  almost,  if  not 
quite,  the  only  organized  army  of  the  rebellion,  which 
seemed  about  to  be  crushed  between  the  two,  as  be 
tween  the  upper  and  the  nether  millstone. 

But  Lee's  surrender  had  virtually  decided  the  exist 
ence  of  the  Confederacy — it  would  have  been  folly  and 
madness  for  the  rebel  chieftains  to  prolong  a  useless 
warfare,  and  the  public  heart,  both  North  and  South, 
was  shortly  gladdened  by  the  news  of  Johnston's  sur 
render  to  Sherman,  on  the  26th  of  April,  and  of  Dick 
Taylor's  trans-Mississippi  army  to  General  Canby  on  the 
4th  of  May. 

On  the  24th  of  March,  President  Lincoln  left  Wash 
ington  on  a  visit  to  the  army,  at  the  request,  as  has 
since  been  ascertained,  of  General  Grant,  who  advised  him 
to  be  present  at  the  capture  of  the  rebel  capital ;  every 
thing  being  then  in  readiness  for  the  last  and  closing 

movement  of  the  campaign.     From  his  quarters  at  City 

38 


594  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Point,  he  telegraphed,  on  March  3 1st,  the  news  of  the 
victory  of  the  previous  day,  on  the  Boydtown  plank 
road ;  on  April  1st  and  2d  he  announced,  through  the 
Secretary  of  War,  General  Grant's  successful  movement 
on  the  left  of  his  line,  especially  Sheridan's  brilliant 
victories,  and  on  April  3d,  1865,  a  brief  despatch  signed 
"  A.  Lincoln,"  electrified  the  country  with  the  glorious 
intelligence  that  Richmond  and  Petersburg  had  fallen 
into  our  hands.  The  latter  city  he  visited  during  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day,  and  was  well  received  by  the 
citizens.  On  the  day  following  he  visited  Richmond — 
which  he  unostentatiously  entered  on  foot,  merely 
attended  by  a  small  guard,  and  proceeded  immediately 
to  the  late  residence  of  the  arch-traitor,  Jefferson  Davis, 
now  the  headquarters  of  the  Union  general  in  command, 
where,  in  the  evening,  he  held  a  levee,  at  which  he 
received,  in  his  usual  free  and  easy  manner,  the  con 
gratulations  of  his  brave  soldiers,  and  the  visits  of  the 
citizens  of  the  place. 

This,  to  him,  must  have  been  an  hour  of  joy  unmin- 
gled.  Long  and  anxious  hours  of  care  seemed  now  to 
be  slipping  from  his  shoulders,  and  brighter  hours  of  hope 
and  peace  cast  their  radiance  upon  his  heart  and  upon 
the  future  of  his  redeemed  and  beloved  country.  Well 
can  we  imagine  that  the  emotions  of  that  hour  of  triumph, 
albeit  so  modestly  borne  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  amply  repaid 
him  for  the  long  years  of  patient  endurance,  of  hope 
deferred,  of  calumny  and  misrepresentation,  of  carking 
care  and  unprecedented  responsibility,  which  it  had  been 
his  lot  to  bear.  His  return  to  Washington  had  nothing  to 
dampen  this  joy,  for  on  the  9th  of  April,  he  was  enabled 
to  congratulate  his  countrymen  on  the  surrender  of  Lee's 


THE    CONCLUSION   OF   THE   WAR.  595 

army,  and  the  virtual  close  of  the  rebellion.  But  one 
great  rebel  army  still  stood  at  bay,  that  of  Johnston  ; 
and  its  submission  was  merely  a  question  of  a  few  days' 
time.  The  impending  draft,  which  had  been  the  terror 
of  the  country,  was  promptly  stopped,  and  the  public 
heart  began,  almost  too  suddenly  for  realization — to 
breathe  freer  and  happier  in  the  anticipation  of  speedy 
peace.  Under  these  circumstances  it  was  but  natural 
that  the  people  should  instinctively  desire  to  congratulate 
their  great  leader,  and  to  look  upon  his  honest  and  care 
worn  countenance,  now  relaxed  and  beaming  with  a 
grateful  sense  of  relief  from  anxiety.  On  the  evening 
of  the  llth  of  April,  there  was  an  impromptu  gathering 
of  the  masses  around  the  White  House,  and  Washington 
was  fairly  ablaze  with  happiness  and  hope. 

The  Executive  Departments,  including  the  Presi 
dent's  mansion,  were  illuminated,  and  adorned  with 
transparencies  and  national  flags,  as  were  also  many 
places  of  business  and  private  dwellings.  Bonfires 
blazed  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  rockets  were 
fired.  Thousands  of  persons  of  both  sexes  repaired  to 
the  executive  mansion,  and,  after  several  airs  had 
been  played  by  the  band,  the  President,  in  response  to 
the  numerous  calls,  appeared  at  an  upper  window.  The 
cheering  with  which  he  was  greeted  having  ceased,  he 
spoke  as  follows,  foreshadowing  his  policy  of  recon 
struction  : 

"  We  meet  this  evening,  not  in  sorrow,  but  in  gladness  of 
heart.  The  evacuation  of  Petersburg  and  Kichmond,  and  the 
surrender  of  the  principal  insurgent  army,  give  hopes  of  a 
righteous  and  speedy  peace,  whose  joyous  expression  cannot  be 
restrained.  In  the  midst  of  this,  however,  He  from  whom  all 


596  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

blessings  flow  must  not  be  forgotten.  A  call  for  a  National 
Thanksgiving  is  being  prepared,  and  will  be  duly  promulgated. 
Nor  must  those  whose  harder  part  gives  us  the  cause  of  re 
joicing,  be  overlooked.  Their  honors  must  not  be  parcelled 
out  with  others.  I,  myself,  was  near  the  front,  and  had  the 
high  pleasure  of  transmitting  much  of  the  good  news  to  you. 
But  no  part  of  the  honor,  for  plan  or  execution,  is  mine.  To 
General  Grant,  his  skillful  officers  and  brave  men,  all  belong. 
The  gallant  navy  stood  ready,  but  was  not  in  reach  to  take 
active  part.  By  these  recent  successes,  the  reinauguration  of 
the  national  authority — reconstruction,  which  has  had  a  large 
share  of  thought  from  the  first — is  pressed  much  more  closely 
upon  our  attention.  It  is  fraught  with  great  difficulty.  Unlike 
a  case  of  war  between  independent  nations,  there  is  no  au 
thorized  organ  for  us  to  treat  with.  No  one  man  has  authority 
to  give  up  the  rebellion  for  any  other  man.  "We  simply  must 
begin  with  and  mould  from  disorganized  and  discordant  ele 
ments.  Nor  is  it  a  small  additional  embarrassment,  that  we, 
the  loyal  people,  differ  among  ourselves  as  to  the  mode,  manner 
and  measure  of  reconstruction.  As  a  general  rule,  I  abstain 
from  reading  the  reports  of  attacks  upon  myself,  wishing  not 
to  be  provoked  by  that  to  which  I  cannot  properly  offer  an 
answer.  In  spite  of  this  precaution,  however,  it  comes  to  my 
knowledge  that  I  am  much  censured  for  some  supposed  agency 
in  setting  up  and  seeking  to  sustain  the  new  State  government 
of  Louisiana.  In  this  I  have  done  just  so  much  and  no  more 
than  the  public  know.  In  the  annual  message  of  December, 
1863,  and  the  accompanying  proclamation,  I  presented  a  plan 
of  reconstruction — as  the  phrase  goes — which  I  promised,  if 
adopted  by  any  State,  would  be  acceptable  to  and  sustained 
by  the  Executive  Government  of  the  nation.  I  distinctly  stated 
that  this  was  not  the  only  plan  which  might  possibly  be  ac 
ceptable  ;  and  I  also  distinctly  protested  that  the  Executive 
claimed  no  right  to  say  who  or  whether  members  should  be 
admitted  to  seats  in  Congress  from  such  States.  This  plan  was 


THE    CONCLUSION    OF   THE   WAR.  597 

in  advance  submitted  to  the  then  Cabinet,  and  approved  by 
every  member  of  it.  One  of  them  suggested  that  I  should 
then,  and  in  that  connection,  apply  the  Emancipation  Proc 
lamation  to  the  theretofore  excepted  parts  of  Virginia  and 
Louisiana ;  that  I  should  drop  the  suggestion  about  appren 
ticeship  for  freed  people ;  and  that  I  should  omit  the  protest 
against  my  own  power  in  regard  to  the  admission  of  members 
of  Congress.  But  even  he  approved  every  part  and  parcel  of 
the  plan  which  has  since  been  employed  or  touched  by  the 
action  of  Louisiana.  The  new  constitution  of  Louisiana,  de 
claring  emancipation  for  the  whole  State,  practically  applies  the 
proclamation  to  the  part  previously  excepted.  It  does  not 
adopt  apprenticeship  for  freed  people,  and  is  silent,  as  it  could 
not  well  be  otherwise,  about  the  admission  of  members  to 
Congress.  So  that,  as  it  applied  to  Louisiana,  every  member 
of  the  Cabinet  fully  approved  the  plan.  The  message  went  to 
Congress,  and  I  received  many  commendations  of  the  plan, 
written  and  verbal,  and  not  a  single  objection  to  it  from  any 
professed  emancipationist  came  to  my  knowledge  until  after  the 
news  reached  Washington  that  the  people  of  Louisiana  had 
begun  to  move  in  accordance  with  it.  From  about  July,  1862, 
I  had  corresponded  with  different  persons  supposed  to  be  in 
terested  in  seeking  a  reconstruction  of  a  State  government  for 
Louisiana.  When  the  'message  of  1863,  with  the  plan  before 
mentioned,  reached  New  Orleans,  General  Banks  wrote  me  that 
he  was  confident  that  the  people,  with  his  military  co-operation, 
would  reconstruct  substantially  on  that  plan.  I  wrote  to  him 
and  some  of  them  to  try  it.  They  tried  it;  and  the  result  is 
known.  Such  has  been  my  only  agency  in  getting  up  the 
Louisiana  government.  As  to  sustaining  it,  my  promise  is  out, 
as  before  stated ;  but  as  bad  promises  are  better  broken  than 
kept,  I  shall  treat  this  as  a  bad  promise  and  break  it  whenever 
I  shall  be  convinced  that  keeping  it  is  adverse  to  the  public 
interest.  But  I  have  not  yet  been  so  convinced.  I  have  been 
shown  a  letter  on  this  subject — supposed  to  be  an  able  one — 
LQ  which  the  writer  expresses  regret  that  my  mind  has  not 


598  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

seemed  to  be  definitely  fixed  on  the  question  whether  the  se 
ceded  States,  so  called,  are  in  the  Union  or  out  of  it.  It  would 
perhaps  add  astonishment  to  this  regret,  were  he  to  learn  that 
since  I  have  found  professed  Union  men  endeavoring  to  answer 
that  question,  I  have  purposely  forborne  any  public  expression 
upon  it.  As  appears  to  me,  that  question  has  not  been,  nor 
yet  is,  a  practically  material  one — and  that  any  discussion  of  it, 
while  it  thus  remains  practically  immaterial,  could  have  no 
effect  other  than  the  mischievous  one  of  dividing  our  friends. 
As  yet,  whatever  it  may  become,  that  question  is  bad  as  the 
basis  of  a  controversy,  and  good  for  nothing  at  all — a  merely 
pernicious  abstraction.  We  all  agree  that  the  seceded  States, 
so  called,  are  out  of  their  proper  practical  relation  with  the 
Union,  and  that  the  sole  object  of  the  Government,  civil  and 
military,  in  regard  to  those  States,  is  to  again  get  them  into 
that  proper  practical  relation.  I  believe  that  it  is  not  only 
possible,  but  in  fact  easier  to  do  this  without  deciding,  or  even 
considering,  whether  these  States  have  been  out  of  the  Union 
or  in  it ;  finding  themselves  safely  at  home,  it  would  be  utterly 
immaterial  whether  they  had  been  abroad.  Let  us  all  join  in 
doing  the  acts  necessary  to  restore  the  proper  practical  relations 
between  these  States  and  the  Union,  and  each  forever  after  in 
nocently  indulge  his  own  opinion  whether  in  doing  the  acts  he 
brought  the  States  from  without  into  the  Union,  or  only  gave 
them  proper  assistance,  they  never  having  been  out  of  it.  The 
amount  of  constituency,  so  to  speak,  on  which  the  Louisiana 
government  rests,  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  all  if  it  con 
tained  fifty  thousand,  or  thirty  thousand,  or  even  twenty 
thousand — instead  of  twelve  thousand — as  it  does.  It  is  also 
unsatisfactory  to  some  that  the  elective  franchise  is  not  given 
to  the  colored  man.  I  would  myself  prefer  that  it  were  now 
conferred  on  the  very  intelligent,  and  on  those  who  serve  our 
cause  as  soldiers.  Still,  the  question  is  not  whether  the  Lou 
isiana  government,  as  it  stands,  is  quite  all  that  is  desirable. 
The  question  is,  will  it  be  wiser  to  take  -it  as  it  is,  and  keep  it, 
improve  it,  or  to  reject  and  disperse  ? 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF    THE   ^AR.  599 

"Can  Louisiana  be  brought  into  proper  practical  relation 
with  the  Union  sooner  by  sustaining  or  by  discarding  her  new 
State  government  ?  Some  twelve  thousand  voters  in  the  here 
tofore  slave  State  of  Louisiana,  have  sworn  allegiance  to  the 
Union,  assumed  to  be  the  rightful  political  power  of  the  State, 
held  elections,  organized  a  State  government,  adopted  a  free 
State  constitution,  giving  the  benefit  of  the  public  schools 
equally  to  black  and  white,  and  empowering  the  Legislature  to 
confer  the  elective  franchise  upon  the  colored  man. 

"This  Legislature  has  already  voted  to  ratify  the  Constitution 
al  Amendment  recently  passed  by  Congress,  abolishing  slavery 
throughout  the  nation.  These  twelve  thousand  persons  are 
thus  fully  committed  to  the  Union,  and  to  perpetuate  freedom 
in  the  State — committed  to  the  very  things  and  nearly  all  things 
the  nation  wants ;  and  they  ask  the  nation's  recognition,  and  its 
assistance,  to  make  good  this  committal. 

"  Now,  if  we  reject  and  spurn  them,  we  do  our  utmost  to  dis 
organize  and  disperse  them.  We,  in  fact,  say  to  the  white 
man,  You  are  worthless,  or  worse ;  we  will  neither  help  you  nor 
be  helped  by  you.  To  the  blacks  we  say :  This  cup  of  liberty, 
which  these,  your  old  masters,  help  to  your  lips,  we  will  dash 
from  you,  and  leave  you  to  the  chances  of  gathering  the  spilled 
and  scattered  contents  in  some  vague  and  undefined  when, 
where  and  how. 

"  If  this  course,  discouraging  and  paralyzing  both  white  and 
black,  has  any  tendency  to  bring  Louisiana  into  popular  prac 
tical  relations  with  the  Union,  I  have  so  far  been  unable  to 
perceive  it.  If,  on  the  contrary,  we  sustain  and  recognize  the 
new  government  of  Louisiana,  the  converse  of  all  this  is  made 
true.  We  encourage  the  hearts  and  nerve  the  arms  of  twelve 
thousand  to  adhere  to  their  work  and  argue  for  it,  and  feed  it, 
and  grow  it,  and  ripen  it  to  a  complete  success. 

"The  colored  man,  too,  in  seeing  all  united  for  him,  is 
inspired  with  vigilance,  and  energy,  and  daring  to  the  same 
end.  Grant  that  he  desires  the  elective  franchise,  will  he  not 
attain  it  sooner  by  saving  the  already  advanced  steps  toward 


COO  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

it  than  by  running  backward  over  them  ?  Concede  that  the 
new  government  of  Louisiana  is  only  to  what  it  should  be  as 
the  egg  is  to  the  fowl,  we  shall  sooner  have  the  fowl  by  hatch 
ing  the  egg  than  by  smashing  it.  [Laughter.] 

"Again,  if  we  reject  Louisiana  we  also  reject  one  vote  in 
favor  of  the  proposed  amendment  to  the  national  Constitution. 
To  meet  this  proposition,  it  has  been  argued  that  no  more  than 
three-fourths  of  those  States  which  have  not  attempted  seces 
sion  are  necessary  to  validly  ratify  the  amendment.  I  do  not 
commit  myself  against  this  farther  than  to  say /that  such  a  rati 
fication  would  be  questionable  and  sure  to  be  persistently  ques-^ 
tioned,  while  a  ratification  by  three -fourths  of  all  the  States 
would  be  unquestioned  and  unquestionable. 

"I  repeat  the  question,  can  Louisiana  be  brought  into  prac 
tical  relation  with  the  Union  sooner  by  sustaining  or  by  dis 
carding  her  new  State  government  ?  What  has  been  said  of 
Louisiana  will  apply  to  other  States.  And  yet  so  great  pecu 
liarities  pertain  to  each  State  and  such  important  and  sudden 
changes  occur  in  the  same  State,  and  withal  so  new  and  unpre- 
dented  is  the  whole  case,  that  no  exclusive  and  inflexible  plan 
can  safely  be  prescribed  as  to  details  and  collaterals.  Such 
exclusive  and  inflexible  plan  would  surely  become  a  new 
entanglement. 

"Important  principles  may  and  must  be  inflexible.  In  the 
present  situation,  as  the  phrase  goes,  it  may  be  my  duty  to 
make  some  new  announcement  to  the  people  of  the  South.  I 
am  considering  and  shall  not  fail  to  act  when  satisfied  trat 
action  will  be  proper." 

The  President,  during  the  delivery  of  the  above 
speech,  was  frequently  interrupted  by  applause,  and  on 
its  conclusion,  in  the  midst  of  the  cheering  the  band 
struck  up  a  patriotic  air,  when  he  bowed  and  retired. 

Repeated  calls  for  Senator  Sumner  were  then  made, 
but  he  was  not  present. 


THE   CONCLUSION   OF   THE   WAR.  601 

Senator  Harlan,  of  Iowa,  was  called  for,  and  after  the 
applause  had  subsided  he  directed  attention  to  two  prin 
ciples  settled  or  to  be  settled  by  the  closing  contest : 
First,  that  the  American  people  had  decided  that  the 
majority  of  the  voters  of  the  republic  should  control  its 
destinies  and  the  incipient  processes  of  making  its  laws. 
Second,  that  no  part  of  the  republic  should  ever  be  per 
mitted  by  force  to  divide  it. 

The  punishment  of  traitors  lay  in  the  hands  of  Con 
gress,  and  the  Constitution  pointed  out  clearly  what 
constituted  treason.  Those  who  hatched  the  treason 
should  suffer  the  penalty,  and  under  Congress  he  was 
willing  to  trust  the  future  in  the  hands  of  the  citizen 
elected  a  second  time  to  see  the  laws  faithfully  exe 
cuted. 

Senator  Harlan's  remarks  were  applauded,  and  the 
assemblage  dispersed  after  vociferous  huzzas  and  music 
by  the  band.  A  larger  and  more  enthusiastic  meeting 
was  seldom,  if  ever  before,  held  in  front  of  the  execu 
tive  mansion. 

On  the  same  day  the  President  had  issued  the  follow 
ing  important  proclamation,  claiming  that  our  vessels- 
of-wrar  in  foreign  ports  should  no  longer  be  subjected  to 
restrictions  as  at  present,  but  should  have  the  same 
rights  and  hospitalities  which  are  extended  to  foreign 
men-of-war  in  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  and 
declaring  that  hereafter  the  cruisers  of  every  nation 
should  receive  the  treatment  which  in  those  ports,  they 
accord  to  ours,  as  follows : 

"  WHEREAS,  For  some  time  past  vessels- of- war  of  the  United 
States  have  been  refused  in  certain  ports  privileges  and  immu 
nities  to  which  they  were  entitled  by  treaty,  public  law,  or  the 


602  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

comity  of  nations,  at  the  same  time  that  vessels-of-war  of  the 
country  wherein  the  said  privileges  and  immunities  have  been 
withheld  have  enjoyed  them  fully  and  uninterruptedly,  in  the 
ports  of  the  United  States,  which  condition  of  things  has  not 
always  been  forcibly  resisted  by  the  United  States,  although, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  have  not  at  times  failed  to  protest 
against  and  declare  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  same.  In  the 
view  of  the  United  States  no  condition  any  longer  exists  which 
can  be  claimed  to  justify  the  denial  to  them  by  any  one  of  said 
nations  of  the  customary  naval  rights  such  as  has  heretofore 
been  so  unnecessarily  persisted  in ;  now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  do  hereby  make 
known  that  if,  after  a  reasonable  time  shall  have  elapsed  for  the 
intelligence  of  this  proclamation  to  have  reached  any  foreign 
country  in  whose  ports  the  said  privileges  and  immunities 
shall  have  been  refused  as  aforesaid,  they  shall  continue  to 
be  so  refused,  then  and  thenceforth  the  same  privileges  and 
immunities  shall  be  refused  to  the  vessels-of-war  of  that  country 
in  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  and  this  refusal  shall  continue 
until  the  war  vessels  of  the  United  States  shall  have  been 
placed  upon  "an  entire  equality  in  the  foreign  ports  aforesaid 
with  similar  vessels  of  other  countries.  The  United  States; 
whatever  claim  or  pretence  may  have  existed  heretofore,  are 
now  at  least  entitled  to  claim,  and  concede  an  entire  and 
friendly  equality  of  rights  and  hospitalities  with  all  maritime 
nations. 

"  In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"'  Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  eleventh  day  of  April, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
[L.  s.]  sixty-five,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  of  America  the  eighty -ninth. 

''ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
"  By  the  President : 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State" 


THE  ASSASSINATION.  603 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

THE  ASSASSINATION,  AND   ITS   EFFECTS   UPON    THE   COUNTRY. 

Threats  of  Assassination. — Details  of  the  arrangements  made  by  the  Con 
spirators. — Booth's  strange  conduct  and  excited  manner  on  the  day  of 
the  Assassination. — President  Lincoln's  last  hours  among  his  family 
and  friends. — Goes  to  the  theatre. — The  Deed. — Statements  of  Major 
Rathbone,  Miss  Harris  and  others. — The  Death-bed  scene. — The  attack 
on  Secretary  Seward. — The  news  in  "Washington. — Its  effects  on  the 
Nation. — The  Editorial  of  the  New  York  World. — Public  emotion  in 
New  York  and  elsewhere. — Rev.  Dr.  Bellows'  discourse. — Remarks  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop. — Rev.  H.  "\V.  Beecher's  discourse. — 
The  effect  of  the  news  upon  Europe. — The  reception  in  London. — The 
scene  of  its  announcement  in  the  Liverpool  Exchange. — Official  condo 
lences. — Letter  from  the  French  Government. — Tribute  of  the  Italian 
Chamber  of  Deputies. — Belgium  joins  in  the  general  grief. — A  commem 
orative  service  in  Berlin. 

GOOD  FRIDAY,  the  14th  of  April,  has  become  a  day 
ever  memorable  in  American  annals.  Being  the  anni 
versary  of  Major  Anderson's  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter, 
the  opening  scene  of  the  terrible  four  years'  civil  war, 
just  ended,  it  had  been  appointed  as  a  day  of  national 
thanksgiving  and  rejoicing — in  singular  forge tfulness  of 
the  fact  that,  from  earliest  times  it  was,  to  the  Christian 
world,  a  commemoration  of  the  death  of  the  Saviour. 
Richmond  was  ours;  the  rebel  General  Lee  and  his 
army  were  prisoners ;  Johnston's  army  on  the  eve  of 
surrender;  and  this  day  General  Anderson,  amid  the 
thunder  of  echoing  cannon,  and  the  cheers  and  con 
gratulations  of  loyal  men,  raised  the  beloved  flag  of  his 
country  over  the  ruins  of  Sumter,  from  which,  four 


604  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

years  before,  he  had  been  driven,  by  the  overpowering 
force  of  armed  treason. 

President  Lincoln  was  already  planning  ways  of 
peace ;  the  reduction  of  the  national  army,  and  of  the 
heavy  expenditures  of  the  War  Department ;  the  recon 
struction  and  restoration  of  the  southern  States,  to  the 
Union  from  which  they  had  madly  torn  themselves  ;  the 
softening  of  all  the  asperities,  and  the  healing  of  all  the 
wounds,  social  and  political,  which  had  been  engendered 
by  this  terrible  civil  strife — such  were  his  first  thoughts 
and  cares. 

At  the  first  breath  of  returning  peace,  the  sword  had 
turned  to  the  olive-branch  in  his  hand;  and  his  great 
heart  gladly  threw  off  the  armor  of  defence,  for  the  gar 
ment  of  mercy.  This  hour  of  triumph  was,  to  him,  not 
so  much  a  lessening,  as  a  change  of  responsibility.  In 
that  hour,  he  was  relieved  from  these  responsibilities, 
and  set  free  from  all  the  cares  of  earth,  by  the  sudden 
act  of  an  assassin — which,  when  we  consider  its  success, 
the  ease  with  which  it  was  accomplished,  and  the 
rapidity  of  the  murderer's  escape,  is  almost  without  a 
parallel  in  history. 

In  a  public  concourse,  and  in  the  presence  of  hundreds, 
the  chief  of  a  great  nation  was  murdered  in  an  instant, 
and  for  a  long  time  no  trace  of  the  recognized  assassin 
could  be  found,  although  he  must  have  galloped  in  the 
dead  hour  of  night  past  officers  and  sentries,  apparently 
unquestioned  and  unchecked. 

A  plot,  the  whole  extent  and  ramifications  of  which 
have  never  yet  been  fully  made  known,  had  long  been 
formed  to  assassinate  the  President  and  the  prominent 
members  of  the  Cabinet.  Originating  apparently  in  the 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  605 

Confederate  government,  this  act,  with  others,  such  as 
the  attempt  to  fire  New  York,  the  St.  Albans  raid,  the 
seizure  of  vessels  on  the  lakes  and  at  sea,  was  confided 
to  an  association  of  army  officers,  who  when  sent  on 
these  errands  were  said  to  be  on  '  detached  service.' 
There  is  direct  proof  of  Booth's  actual  consultation  with 
officers  known  to  belong  to  this  organization,  during 
Lee's  retreat  from  Gettysburg.  The  assassination  of  the 
President  was  a  thing  so  commonly  talked  of  in  the 
South  as  to  excite  at  last  no  surprise,  and  a  reward  was 
actually  offered,  in  one  of  the  southern  papers,  for  the 
assassination  of  the  President,  Vice  President,  and  Secre 
tary  of  State. 

It  is  already  ascertained  that  a  previous  attempt  to 
take  the  life  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  by  poison,  was  made,  but 
failed.  Then  parties  were  employed  to  do  the  work 
surely,  and  to  John  Wilkes  Booth,  the  great  act  was 
committed. 

Threats  of  assassination  had,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  induced  considerable  care  on  the  part  of  the  author 
ities.  At  the  first  inaugration,  in  1861,  steps  were 
taken  to  guard  against  any  such  nefarious  design. 
Gradually,  however,  these  threats  were  treated  lightly, 
and  less  precautions  was  taken.  Warning,  indeed,  had 
been  conveyed  to  Mr.  Seward  on  the  very  day  that  an 
accident  laid  him  a  sufferer  on  his  bed  of  pain,  but 
apparently  without  inducing  any  unusual  caution  or 
watchfulness. 

The  President's  visit  to  Richmond,  where  he  walked 
unattended,   had  seemed  to  many  too   rash,  and   his 
friends  remonstrated  strongly  against  his  thus  imperil 
ling  a  life  on  which  all  America  had  a  claim.     He  wrote 


606  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

on  the  very  day  of  his  death,  influenced,  at  length,  by 
this  friendly  anxiety,  to  General  Van  Allen  :  "I  intend 
to  adopt  the  advice  of  my  friends  and  use  due  precau 
tion." 

Alas !  too  late.  The  time  and  place  of  the  terrible 
crime  had  already  been  appointed.  One  of  the  prin 
cipal  theatres  of  Washington,  directed  by  John  T.  Ford 
(who,  however,  seems  to  have  been  no  party  to  the 
plot),  had  placed  a  state  box,  as.  it  was  termed,  at 
the  disposal  of  President  Lincoln.  The  evening  of  the 
14th  was  appointed  for  the  benefit  of  Miss  Laura 
Keene,  to  which  the  President,  General  Grant,  and 
other  prominent  officials  were  invited,  and  expected  to 
be  present.  This  invitation  furnished  the  long  wished- 
for  opportunity  to  the  conspirators,  and  with  diabolical 
ingenuity,  they  prepared  the  theatre  for  their  fiendish 
work.  The  President's  box  was  a  double  one,  or  what 
ordinarily  constituted  two  boxes,  in  the  second  tier,  at 
the  left  of  the  stage.  On  occasions  of  its  being  occupied 
by  the  Presidential  party,  these  boxes  were  thrown  into 
one,  by  the  removal  of  the  temporary  partition.  The 
doors  of  these  boxes  opened  into  a  narrow,  dark  hall 
way,  closed  in  turn  by  a  door  at  the  end  of  the  dress- 
circle.  During  the  day,  or  previously,  these  premises 
had  been  fully  and  deliberately  prepared  by  the  assassin 
and  his  accomplices,  for  the  coming  tragedy.  The 
passage-door  opening  from  the  dress-circle  had  been 
securely  fastened  by  a  piece  of  board,  firmly  braced 
between  it  and  a  secret  niche  made  in  the  opposite 
wall — so  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  jar  it  out  of 
place  by  knocking  against  the  door  on  the  outer,  or 
dress-circle  side.  Having  thus  guarded  against  intru- 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  607 

sion  by  any  of  the  audience,  the  assassin  next  proceeded 
to  provide  means  of  observing  the  position  of  the 
occupants  of  the  box,  by  boring  gimlet  holes  in  the 
panels  of  the  box  doors,  enlarged  by  a  pen-knife  on  the 
inside,  through  which  he  could  survey  the  scene  at  the 
moment  of  action.  The  spring-locks  on  the  inside 
of  the  doors  were  weakened  by  the  partial  withdrawal 
of  the  screws  which  fastened  the  hasps  to  the  wood ;  so 
that,  even  if  locked,  the  doors  would  offer  but  little 
resistance  to  firm  pressure  from  the  outside.  Facility 
of  access  being  thus  providad,  the  murderer,  or  his 
confederates  among  the  employees  of  the  theatre,  had1 
insured  a  clear  and  unobstructed  passage  to  their  victim, 
by  such  an  arrangement  of  the  chairs  and  sofas  as 
would  place  the  other  occupants  at  some  distance  from 
him,  and  .in  positions  not  to  observe  an  entrance.  Mr. 
Lincoln's  chair  was  placed  in  the  front  corner,  furthest 
from  the  stage ;  that  of  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  more  remote 
from  the  front,  and  just  by  the  column  in  the  centre ; 
while  the  other  chairs  and  a  sofa  were  all  placed  on  the 
side  nearest  the  stage,  leaving  the  centre  of  the  spacious 
box  clear  for  the  assassin's  operations,  and  enabling  him 
to  enter  unseen.  For  the  criminal  act,  Booth  had 
selected  a  small  silver-mounted  Derringer  pistol,  and  a 
bowie  knife.  He  had  previously  often  exhibited  a 
nicked  bullet,  with  which  he  declared  that  his  intention 
was  to  kill  the  President ;  and  during  a  recent  visit  to 
Boston,  spent  much  of  his  time  at  a  pistol  gallery,  prac 
tising  firing  behind  his  neck,  between  his  legs,  and 
in  many  strange  and  awkward  positions.  For  his 
escape  he  had  no  less  carefully  provided.  He  took 
a  stable  in  the  alley  in  the  rear  of  the  theatre,  and  on 


608  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  afternoon  of  Friday  hired  a  fine  bay  mare,  and 
taking  it  to  the  stable,  employed  Spangler,  the  stage 
carpenter,  to  watch  it.  It  was  saddled  ready  for  an 
instant  mount,  and  placed  in  charge  of  Spangler,  who 
also  prepared  the  scenes  so  that  he  could  readily  reach 
the  back  door.  Of  this  door  Spangler  took  charge, 
relieving  the  boy  who  was  sent  to  hold  Booth's  horse 
during  the  performance.  All  these  preparations  bore 
the  unmistakeable  evidence  of  ingenuity,  industry  and 
perseverance,  in  the  perfect  accomplishment  of  a  delibe 
rate  murder. 

A  son  of  the  celebrated  English  actor,  Lucius  Junius 
Booth,  John  Wilkes  seems  to  have  inherited  a  less 
share  of  his  father's  talent  than  of  his  eccentricity  and 
madness.  Aged  about  twenty-seven ;  handsome,  but  in 
tensely  vicious  and  perverse,  his  wild  and  dissipated  life, 
his  unsteadiness  and  low  associations,  had  lost  him  the 
respect  of  many  who  would  have  been  his  friends ;  and 
had  lessened  the  importance  which  might  otherwise 
have  been  attached  to  his  threats  and  boasts. 

During  the  whole  of  that  eventful  Friday,  his  manner 
was  full  of  excitability,  and  attracted  the  attention  of 
several,  who,  knowing  his  peculiarities,  supposed  him  to 
be  simply  in  one  of  his  wild  moods.  In  answer  to  the 
inquiry  of  the  clerk  at  his  hotel,  whether  he  was  ill,  he 
answered  quickly,  "No,"  and  asked,  "Are  you  going  to 
Ford's  theatre  to-night?"  immediately  adding,  "You 
ought  to  go ;  there  is  to  be  some  splendid  acting  there 
to-night."  Much  of  his  time,  during  the  day,  was  spent 
iu  drinking  frequently  at  the  bar  of  a  saloon  next  door 
to  the  theatre.  During  the  afternoon,  he  called  at  the 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  609 

Kirkwood  House,  where  Vice  President  Johnson  resided, 
and  sent  up  a  card,  with  these  words : 

"  I  don't  wish  to  disturb  you,  but  would  be  glad  to  have  an 
interview.  J.  WILKES  BOOTH." 

Mr.  Johnson  was  fortunately  not  within,  and  to  this, 
possiblyr,  owes  his  life.  The  object  of  Booth  in  seeking 
this  interview,  however,  may  not  have  been  to  kill  the 
Vice  President,  as  such  an  act  would  have  probably 
foiled  the  contemplated  attack  on  the  President.  It 
may  have  been,  therefore,  simply  an  attempt  to  involve 
the  Vice  President,  and  cast  suspicion  upon  him.  To 
get  him  to  write  a  note — a  simple  response  to  his  card 
would  do — "  I  shall  be  happy  to  have  an  interview  with 

Mr.  Booth  on ."     This  card,  dropped  on  the  scene 

of  the  murder  in  the  theatre,  would  have  furnished  an 
evidence  of  collusion  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  destined  suc 
cessor — a  shallow  device,  it  is  true,  but  one  in  the 
fashion  of  a  hundred  stage  plots.  If  we  discard  the 
idea  of  an  intended  murder  of  the  Vice  President  by 
Booth  (and  we  know  that  the  arrangement  of  the  con 
spiracy  had  appointed  the  work  to  another  assassin), 
this  seems  to  be  the  only  remaining  conjecture.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  Booth,  failing  to  reach  Mr.  Johnson,  returned 
to  his  hotel  about  four  o'clock,  and  wrote  a  letter  to 
his  mother,  apparently  under  great  excitement.  He 
took  his  tea  at  the  hotel  at  the  usual  hour,  and  the  next 
heard  of  him  was  a  little  after  seven  o'clock,  when,  in 
company  with  five  others,  he  entered  the  drinking 
saloon  before  mentioned,  and  all  drank  together.  The 
emphasis  of  their  manner  in  drinking  attracted  atten 
tion,  and  after  drinking,  they  formally  shook  hands 
39 


610  THE     LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

with  each  other,  bidding  one  another  good-bye.  Upon 
leaving  the  bar-room,  two  of  the  party  rode  off  on 
horseback.  At  a  later  hour,  some  colored  people  living 
on  the  alley  of  the  theatre,  saw  him .  in  conference 
with  Sp angler,  and  placing  his  horse  in  position  after 
the  performance  had  commenced.  Others  saw  him 
around  the  entrance  soon  after.  An  officer,  as  we  shall 
see,  saw  him  enter  the  passage  leading  to  the  state  box, 
but  neither  the  police  in  front,  the  soldier  who  over 
heard  his  language  full  of  menace  against  the  President, 
nor  the  officer  whom  his  apparent  rudeness  shocked,  nor 
the  President's  own  attendant,  seemed  to  have  had  the 
slightest  suspicion  of  the  coming  tragedy.  No  angel 
whispered  a  word  of  warning.  Providence  permitted 
the  lull  of  security  to  surround  all. 

But  we  will  now  follow  President  Lincoln  in  the 
events  of  the  day  which  closed  his  mortal  career  with 
such  appalling  suddenness. 

His  son,  Captain  Robert  Lincoln,  who  is  on  General 
Grant's  staff,  breakfasted  with  him  on  Friday  morning, 
having  just  returned  from  the  capitulation  of  Lee,  and 
the  President  passed  a  happy  hour  listening  to  all  the 
details.  While  at  breakfast,  he  heard  that  Speaker 
Colfax  was  in  the  house,  and  sent  word  that  he  wished 
to  see  him  immediately  in  the  reception-room.  He  con 
versed  with  him  nearly  an  hour  about  his  future  policy 
as  to  the  rebellion,  which  he  was  about  to  submit  to  the 
Cabinet.  Afterward,  he  had  an  interview  with  Mr. 
Hale,  minister  to  Spain,  and  several  Senators  and  Repre 
sentatives. 

At  eleven  o'clock,  the  cabinet  and  General  Grant  met 
with  him ;  and,  in  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  and  im- 


THE  ASSASSINATION.  611 

portant  Cabinet  meetings  held  since  his  first  inauguration, 
the  future  policy  of  the  Administration  in  the  great  work 
of  reconstruction,  and  restoring  the  southern  States  to 
their  ancient  place  beside  their  sister  States,  was  harmo 
niously  and  unanimously  agreed  on.  When  it  adjourned, 
Secretary  Stanton  said  that  he  felt  that  the  government 
was  stronger  than  at  any  previous  period  since  the 
rebellion  commenced ;  and  the  President  is  said,  in  his 
characteristic  way,  to  have  told  them  that  some  import 
ant  news  would  soon  come,  as  he  had  a  dream  of  a  ship 
sailing  very  rapidly,  and  had  invariably  had  that  same 
dream  before  great  events  in  the  war,  Bull  Run,  Antie- 
tam,  Gettysburg,  &c. 

In  the  afternoon,  the  President  had  a  long  and  pleasant 
interview  with  Governor  Oglesby,  Senator  Yates,  and 
other  leading  citizens  of  his  State.  In  the  evening,  Mr. 
Colfax  called  again  at  his" request,  and  Mr.  Ashmun,  of 
Massachusetts,  who  presided  over  the  Chicago  Convention 
of  1860,  was  present.  To  them  he  spoke  of  his  visit  to 
Richmond,  and  when  they  stated  that  there  was  much 
uneasiness  at  the  North  while  he  was  at  the  rebel  capi 
tal,  for  fear  that  some  traitor  might  shoot  him,  he  replied 
jocularly  that  he  would  have  been  alarmed  himself  if 
any  other  person  had  been  President,  and  gone  there, 
but  that  he  did  not  feel  any  danger  whatever.  Conver 
sing  on  a  matter  of  business  with  Mr.  Ashmun,  he  made 
a  remark  that  he  saw  Mr.  Ashmun  was  surprised  at; 
and  immediately,  with  his  well-known  kindness  of  heart, 
said,  "  You  did  not  understand  me,  Ashmun ;  I  did  not 
mean  what  you  inferred,  and  I  will  take  it  all  back,  and 
apologize  for  it."  He  afterwards  gave  Mr.  Ashmun  a 


612  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

card,  written  on  his  knee,  to  admit  himself  and  friend 
early  the  next  morning  to  converse  further  about  it. 

Turning  to  Mr.  Colfax,  he  said,  "  You  are  going  with 
Mrs.  Lincoln  and  me  to  the  theatre,  I  hope."  But  Mr. 
Colfax  had  other  engagements,  expecting  to  leave  the 
city  the  next  morning. 

He  then  said  to  Mr.  Colfax,  "  Mr.  Sumner  has  the 
gavel  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  which  he  got  at  Kich- 
mond  to  hand  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  but  I  insisted 
then  that  he  must  give  it  to  you ;  and  you  tell  him  for 
me  to  hand  it  over."  Mr.  Ashmun  alluded  to  the  gavel 
which  he  still  had,  and  which  he  had  used  at  the  Chicago 
Convention,  and  the  President  and  Mrs.  Lincoln,  who 
was  also  in  the  parlor,  rose  to  go  to  the  theatre.  It  was 
half  an  hour  after  the  time  they  had  intended  to  start, 
and  they  spoke  about  waiting. half  an  hour  longer,  for  the 
President  went  with  reluctance,  as  General  Grant  had 
gone  north,  and  he  did  not  wish  the  people  to  be  disap 
pointed,  as  they  had  both  been  advertised  to  be  there. 
At  the  door  he  stopped,  and  said  : — "  Colfax,  do  not 
forget  to  tell  the  people  in  the  mining  regions,  as  you 
pass  through  them,  what  I  told  you  this  morning  about 
the  development  when  peace  comes,  and  I  will  telegraph 
you  at  San  Francisco." 

Mr.  Lincoln  finally  stated  that  he  must  go  to  the 
theatre,  and  warmly  pressed  Speaker  Colfax  and  Mr. 
Ashmun  to  accompany  him ;  but  they  excused  them 
selves  on  the  score  of  previous  engagements,  and  about 
8  P.  M.,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  entered  the  carriage. 

As  they  proceeded  at  once  to  the  residence  of  Senator 
Harris,  for  Miss  Harris,  we  give  the  following  detailed 
and  authentic  statement  delivered  under  oath  by  Major 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  613 

Rathbone,  the  step-son  of  the  Hon.  Mr.  Harris,  and  which 
is  confirmed  by  Miss  Harris  in  every  particular. 

"Henry  E.  Eathbone,  brevet  Major  in  the  army  of  the 
United  States,  being  duly  sworn,  says,  that  on  the  14th  day  of 
April,  instant,  at  about  twenty-minutes  past  eight  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  he,  with  Miss  Clara  H.  Harris,  left  his  residence  at  the 
corner  of  Fifteenth  and  H  streets,  and  joined  the  President  and 
Mrs.  Lincoln  and  went  with  them  in  their  carriage  to  Ford's 
theatre  in  Tenth  street.  The  box  assigned  to  the  President  is 
in  the  second  tier  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  audience,  and 
was  occupied  by  the  President  and  Mrs.  Lincoln,  Miss  Harris, 
and  this  deponent,  and  by  no  other  person.  The  box  is  entered 
by  passing  from  the  front  of  the  building  in  the  rear  of  the  dress 
circle  to  a  small  entry  or  passageway,  about  eight  feet  in 
length  and  four  feet  in  width.  This  passageway  is  entered  by 
a  door  which  opens  on  the  inner  side.  The  door  is  so  placed 
as  to  make  an  acute  angle  between  it  and  the  wall  behind  it  on 
the  inner  side.  At  the  inner  end  of  this  passageway  is  another 
door,  standing  squarely  across,  and  opening  into  the  box.  On 
the  left-hand  side  of  the  passageway,  and  being  near  the  inner 
end,  is  a  third  door,  which  also  opens  into  the  box.  This  latter 
door  was  closed.  The  party  entered  the  box  through  the  door 
at  the  end  of  the  passageway.  The  box  is  so  constructed  that 
it  may  be  divided  into  two  by  a  movable  partition,  one  of  the 
doors  described  opening  into  each.  The  front  of  the  box  is 
about  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  length,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  rail 
ing  is  a  small  pillar  overhung  with  a  curtain.  The  depth  of 
the  box  from  front  to  rear  is  about  nine  feet.  The  elevation 
of  the  box  above  the  stage,  including  the  railing,  is  about  ten 
or  twelve  feet. 

*  When  the  party  entered  the  box,  a  cushioned  arm-chair 
was  standing  at  the  end  of  the  box  furthest  from  the  stage  and 
nearest  the  audience.  This  was  also  the  nearest  point  to  the 
door  by  which  the  box  is  entered.  The  President  seated  him 
self  in  this  chair,  and,  except  that  he  once  left  the  chair  for  the 


614  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

purpose  of  putting  on  his  overcoat,  remained  so  seated  until  he 
was  shot.  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  seated  in  a  chair  between  the 
President  and  the  pillar  in  the  centre  above  described.  At 
the  opposite  end  of  the  box,  that  nearest  the  stage,  were  two 
chairs,  in  one  of  these,  standing  in  the  corner,  Miss  Harris  was 
seated.  At  her  left  hand,  and  along  the  wall  running  from  that 
end  of  the  box  to  the  rear,  stood  a  small  sofa.  At  the  end  of 
this  sofa,  next  to  Miss  Harris,  this  deponent  was  seated.  The 
distance  between  this  deponent  and  the  President,  as  they  were 
sitting,  was  about  seven  or  eight  feet,  and  the  distance  between 
this  deponent  and  the  door  was  about  the  same.  The  distance 
between  the  President,  as  he  sat,  and  the  door  was  about  four 
or  five  feet.  The  door,  according  to  the  recollection  of  this 
deponent,  was  not  closed  during  the  evening. 

"  When  the  second  scene  of  the  third  act  was  being  per 
formed,  and  this  deponent  was  intently  observing  the  proceed 
ings  upon  the  stage,  with  his  back  towards  the  door,  he  heard 
the  discharge  of  a  pistol  behind  him,  and  looking  around,  saw 
through  the  smoke  a  man  between  the  door  and  the  President. 
At  the  same  time  deponent  heard  him  shout  some  word  which 
deponent  thinks  was  'Freedom.'  This  deponent  instantly 
sprang  towards  him  and  seized  him.  He  wrested  himself  from 
the  grasp  and  made  a  violent  thrust  at  the  breast  of  deponent 
with  a  large  knife.  Deponent  parried  the  blow  by  striking  it 
up,  and  received  a  wound  several  inches  deep  in  his  left  arm 
between  the  elbow  and  the  shoulder.  The  orifice  of  the  wound 
is  about  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length,  and  extends  upwards 
towards  the  shoulder  several  inches.  The  man  rushed  to  the 
front  of  the  box  and  deponent  endeavored  to  seize  him  again, 
but  only  caught  his  clothes  as  he  was  leaping  over  the  railing 
of  the  box.  The  clothes,  as  deponent  believes,  were  torn  in  this 
attempt  to  seize  him.  As  he  went  over  upon  the  stage,  de 
ponent  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  '  Stop  that  man.'  Deponent 
then  turned  to  the  President.  His  position  was  not  changed. 
His  head  was  slightly  bent  forward  and  his  eyes  were  closed 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  615 

Deponent  saw  that  lie  was  unconscious,  and,  supposing  him 
mortally  wounded,  rushed  to  the  door  for  the  purpose  of  calling 
medical  aid.  On  reaching  the  outer  door  of  the  passageway  as 
above  described,  deponent  found  it  barred  by  a  heavy  piece  of 
plank,  one  end  of  which  was  secured  in  the  wall  and  the  other 
rested  against  the  door.  It  had  been  so  securely  fastened  that 
it  required  considerable  force  to  remove  it.  This  wedge  or  bar 
was  about  four  feet  from  the  floor.  Persons  upon  the  outside 
were  beating  against  the  door  for  the  purpose  of  entering.  De 
ponent  removed  the  bar  and  the  door  was  opened.  Several 
persons  who  represented  themselves  to  be  surgeons  were  allowed 
to  enter.  Deponent  saw  there  Lieut.  Crawford,  and  requested 
him  to  prevent  other  persons  from  entering  the  box.  Deponent 
then  returned  to  the  box  and  found  the  surgeons  examining  the 
President's  person.  They  had  not  yet  discovered  the  wound. 
As  soon  as  it  was  discovered  it  was  determined  to  remove  him 
from  the  theatre.  He  was  carried  out,  and  this  deponent  then 
proceeded  to  assist  Mrs.  Lincoln,  who  was  intensely  excited,  to 
leave  the  theatre.  On  reaching  the  head  .of  the  stairs  deponent 
requested  Major  Potter  to  aid  him  in  assisting  Mrs.  Lincoln 
across  the  street  to  the  house  to  which  the  President  was  being 
conveyed.  The  wound  which  deponent  had  received  had  been 
bleeding  very  profusely,  and,  on  reaching  the  house,  feeling 
very  faint  from  the  loss  of  blood,  he  seated  himself  in  the  hall, 
and  soon  after  fainted  away  and  was  laid  upon  the  floor.  Upon 
the  return  of  consciousness  deponent  was  taken  in  a  carriage  to 
his  residence. 

"  In  the  review  of  the  transaction,  it  is  the  confident  belief 
of  the  deponent  that  the  time  which  elapsed  between  the  dis 
charge  of  the  pistol  and  the  time  when  the  assassin  leaped  from 
the  box,  did  not  exceed  thirty  seconds.  Neither  Mrs.  Lincoln 

nor  Miss  Harris  had  left  their  seats. 

"II.  E.  KATHBONE." 
"  Subscribed  and  sworn  before  me,  | 

this  17th  day  of  April,  1865.        j  "A.  B.  OLIN, 

"Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia}1 


616  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Such  is  the  account  of  the  brief  but  tragic  act,  given 
by  one  within  the  box.  An  actor,  who  was  at  the 
moment  on  the  stage,  makes  the  following  statement, 
showing  what  was  seen  from  his  position  ;  and  he  was 
the  only  one  of  the  company  on  the  stage  at  the  time, 
Miss  Laura  Keene  being  about  to  enter : 

"I  was,"  says  Mr.  Hawke,  " playing  'Asa  Trenchard'  in  the 
American  Cousin.'  The  'old  lady'  of  the  theatre  had  just 
gone  off  the  stage,  and  I  was  answering  her  exit  speech  when 
I  heard  the  shot  fired.  I  turned,  looked  up  at  the  President's 
box,  heard  the  man  exclaim  '  Sic  semper  tyrannis?  saw  him 
jump  from  the  box,  seize  the  flag  on  the  staff,  and  drop  to  the 
stage.  He  slipped  when  he  gained  the  stage,  but  got  upon  his 
feet  in  a  moment,  brandished  a  large  knife,  saying  '  The  South 
shall  be  free !'  turned  his  face  in  the  direction  I  stood,  and  I 
recognized  him  as  John  Wilkes  Booth.  He  ran  towards  me, 
and  I.  seeing  the  knife,  thought  I  was  the  one  he  was  after,  ran 
off  the  stage  and  up  a.  flight  of  stairs.  He  made  his  escape  out 

of  a  door  directly  in  the  rear  of  the  theatre,  mounted  a  horse 

t 

and  rode  off. 

"The  above  all  occurred  in  the  space  of  a  quarter  of  a 
minute,  and,  at  the  time,  I  did  not  know  that  the  President  was 
shot — although  if  I  had  tried  to  stop  him  he  would  have 
stabbed  me." 

Few  of  the  audience  had  any  idea  of  what  was  oc 
curring,  but  Captain  Theodore  McGowan,  A.  A.  G.  to 
General  Augur,  makes  this  statement : 

"  On  the  night  of  Friday,  April  14th,  1865,  in  company  with 
a  friend,  I  went  to  Ford's  theatre.  Arriving  there  just  after 
the  entrance  of  President  Lincoln  and  the  party  accompanying 
him,  my  friend,  Lieutenant  Crawford,  and  I,  after  viewing  the 
Presidential  party  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  dress  circle, 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  617 

went  to  the  right  side  and  took  seats  in  the  passage  above  the 
seats  of  the  dress  circle,  and  about  five  feet  from  the  door  of 
the  box  occupied  by  President  Lincoln.  During  the  perform 
ance  the  attendant  of  the  President  came  out  and  took  the  chair 
nearest  the  door.  I  sat,  and  had  been  sitting,  about  four  feet 
to  his  left  and  rear,  for  some  time. 

"  I  remember  that  a  man,  whose  face  I  do  not  distinctly 
recollect,  passed  me,  and  inquired  of  one  sitting  near  who  the 
President's  messenger  was  ;  and  learning,  exhibited  to  him  an 
envelope,  apparently  official,  having  a  printed  heading,  and 
superscribed  in  a  bold  hand.  I  could  not  read  the  address,  and 
did  not  try.  I  think  now  it  was  meant  for  Lieutenant-  General 
Grant.  That  man  went  awav. 

"  Some  time  after,  I  was  disturbed  in  my  seat  by  the  ap 
proach  of  a  man  who  desired  to  pass  up  on  the  aisle  in  which 
I  was  sitting.  Giving  him  room  by  bending  my  chair  forward, 
he  passed  me  and  stepped  one  step  down  on  the  level  below  me. 
Standing  there,  he  was  almost  in  my  line  of  sight,  and  I  saw 
him  while  watching  the  play.  He  stood,  as  I  remember,  one 
step  above  the  messenger,  and  remained  perhaps  one  minute 
apparently  looking  at  the  stage  and  orchestra  below.  Then  he 
drew  a  number  of  visiting  cards  from  his  pocket,  from  which, 
with  some  attention,  he  drew  or  selected  one.  These  things  I 
saw  distinctly.  I  saw  him  stoop,  and,  I  think,  descend  to  the 
level  of  the  messenger,  and  by  his  right  side.  He  showed  the 
card  to  the  messenger ;  and  as  my  attention  was  then  more 
closely  fixed  upon  the  play,  I  do  not  know  whether  the  card 
was  carried  in  by  the  messenger,  or  his  consent  given  to  the 
entrance  of  the  man  who  presented  it.  I  saw,  a  few  moments 
after,  the  same  man  entering  the  door  of  the  lobby  leading  to 
the  box  and  the  door  closing  behind  him.  This  was  seen  be 
cause  I  could  not  fail  from  my  position  to  observe  it — the  door 
side  of  the  proscenium  box  and  the  stage  were  all  within  the 
direct  and  oblique  lines  of  my  sight.  How  long  I  watched  the 
play  after  entering  I  do  not  know.  It  was,  perhaps,  two  or 


618  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

three  minutes,  possibly  four.  The  house  was  perfectly  still, 
the  large  audience  listening  to  the  dialogue  between  '  Florence 
Trenchard'  and  '  May  Meredith,'  when  the  sharp  report  of  a 
pistol  rang  through  the  house.  It  was  apparently  fired  behind 
the  scenes,  on  the  right  of  the  stage.  Looking  towards  it  and 
behind  the  Presidential  box,  while  it  startled  all,  it  was  evi 
dently  accepted  by  every  one  in  the  theatre  as  an  introduction 
to  some  new  passage,  several  of  which  had  been  interpolated 
in  the  early  part  of  the  play.  A  moment  after  a  man  leaped 
from  the  front  of  the  box,  directly  down  nine  feet  on  the  stage, 
and  ran  rapidly  across  it,  bare-headed,  holding  an  unsheathed 
dagger  in  his  right  hand,  the  blade  of  which  flashed  brightly 
in  the  gaslight  as  he  came  within  ten  feet  of  the  opposite  rear 
exit.  I  did  not  see  his  face  as  he  leaped  or  ran,  but  I  am  con 
vinced  he  was  the  man  I  saw  enter.  As  he  leaped  he  cried 
distinctly  the  motto  of  Virginia,  'Sic  semper  tyrannis?  The 
hearing  of  this,  and  the  sight  of  the  dagger,  explained  fully  to 
me  the  nature  of  the  deed  he  had  committed.  In  an  instant 
he  had  disappeared  behind  the  side-scene.  Consternation  seemed 
for  a  moment  to  rivet  every  one  to  his  seat ;  the  next  moment 
confusion  reigned  supreme.  I  saw  the  features  of  the  man 
distinctly  before  he  entered  the  box,  having  surveyed  him  con 
temptuously  before  he  entered,  supposing  him  to  be  an  ill-bred 
fellow  who  was  pressing  a  selfish  matter  on  the  President  in 
his  hours  of  leisure.  The  assassin  of  the  President  is  about 
five  feet  nine  and  a  half  inches  high,  black  hair,  and  I  think 
eyes  of  the  same  color.  He  did  not  turn  his  face  more  than 
quarter  front,  as  artists  term  it.  His  face  was  smooth,  as  I 
remember,  with  the  exception  of  a  moustache  of  moderate  size, 
but  of  this  I  am  not  positive.  He  was  dressed  in  a  black  coat 
approximating  to  a  dress-frock,  dark  pants,  and  wore  a  stiff- 
rimmed,  flat-topped,  round-crowned  black  hat,  of  felt,  I  think. 
He  was  a  gentlemanly-looking  person,  having  no  decided  or 
obtruding  mark.  He  seemed  for  a  moment  or  two  to  survey 
the  house  with  the  deliberation  of  an  habitue  of  the  theatre." 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  619 

Several  persons,  indeed,  had  observed  Booth  loitering 
around  the  entrance  of  the  theatre  and  the  boxes ;  but 
neither  this,  nor  his  leaving  his  horse  in  the  rear,  from 
his  profession  and  actual  occasional  appearance  on  the 
boards  of  the  theatre,  could  or  did  excite  the  slightest 
suspicion.  A  soldier,  however,  states  that  he  heard  him 
and  another  man  in  front  of  the  theatre  speaking  as 
though  they  intended  to  attack  the  President  as  he  came 
out  •  and  that  men,  stationed  apparently  at  intervals  in 
the  audience,  along  the  corridors,  and  at  the  door  of 
the  theatre,  kept  calling  out  the  time  every  few  min 
utes,  evidently  to  notify  confederates  in  the  rear.  All 
the  preparations,  however,  show  that  the  box  was  the 
place  appointed  in  the  councils  of  the  conspirators. 

At  the  moment  of  the  fearful  deed  the  President  was 
seated  in  a  large  and  comfortable  crimson  velvet  patent 
rocking-chair,  "his  right  elbow  upon  the  arm  of  the 
chair,  and  his  head  resting  upon  his  hand,  while  the 
left  hand  was  extended  to  pull  aside  the  flag  (belonging 
to  the  Treasury  Guard),  which  draped  the  side  of  the 
box  nearest  him.  One  may  imagine  the  President,  who 
had  a  childish  simplicity  in  his  moments  of  relaxation, 
indulging  in  the  contented  chuckling  laughter  peculiar 
to  him,  as,  with  his  great  gaunt  body  leaning  forward, 
his  brawny  hands  thrust  through  his  thick  black  locks, 
his  full  dark  eyes  fixed  on  the  stage,  he  listened  to  the 
exaggerated  eccentricities  of  "Our  American  Cousin," 
whilst  the  murderer  was  hovering  in  the  passage  be 
hind  the  box,  or  peeping,  through  the  crevice  he  had  con 
trived,  at  every  movement  of  his  intended  victim.  At 
this  instant  Booth  burst  open  the  door  immediately  be 
hind  the  President,  and  deliberately  shot  him,  as  already 


620  THE   LIFE   OF   ABKAHAM   LINCOLN. 

stated.  It  was  all  the  work  of  a  moment !  The  audi 
ence,  waiting  for  the  appearance  of  a  favorite  actress  on 
the  stage,  w^ere  suddenly  startled  by  the  report  of  a 
pistol,  and  by  the  fall  or  leap  of  a  man  from  the 
President's  box  upon  the  stage.  As  the  intruder  struck 
the  stage,  he  fell  forward,  but  soon  gathering  himself 
up  he  turned,  erect,  in  full  view  of  the  audience,  and 
with  singular  audacity,  and  with  a  calmness  which 
only  could  come  of  careful  premeditation,  uttered  the 
words  "Sic  Semper  Tyrannis!"  in  tones  so  sharp  and 
clear  that  every  person  in  the  theatre  heard  them. 
He  said  something  more,  but  in  that  second  of  time 
Mrs.  Lincoln  had  screamed  in  horror,  the  unusual  occur 
rences  had  created  an  excitement,  the  audience  begun 
to  rise,  and  no  one  heard  the  words  distinctly.  Booth 
now  rushed  across  the  stage,  by  Dundreary,  by  Florence 
Trend  lard,  at  the  wing,  rudely  pushing  Miss  Keene  out 
of  his  way,  as  she  stood  ready  to  come  upon  the  stage, 
down  the  long  passage  behind  the  scenes,  thrusting 
his  knife  at  a  man  who  seemed  to  interrupt  his  flight, 
and  out  by  the  stage  door  into  the  darkness.  Only  one 
man,  Mr.  J.  B.  Stewart,  of  the  Washington  bar,  had 
presence  of  mind  to  pursue  him  ;  but  unfamiliar  with  the 
theatre,  Booth  reached  the  back  door  before  him,  and 
closing  it,  was  enabled  to  thrust  aside  the  boy  and 
spring  to  his  saddle,  before  Mr.  Stewart  could  open  it. 
All  was  instantly  confusion.  Both  before  and  behind 
the  scenes  every  one  knew  that  the  President  had  been 
shot.  Actors  rushed  upon  the  stage,  and  the  audience 
into  the  orchestra.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  sunk  down  without 
a  groan  or  a  struggle.  Mrs.  Lincoln  had  fainted  after  her 
first  shriek — Major  Rathbone  was  disabled  by  a  stab 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  621 


which  Booth's  knife  had  given  him  in  the  struggle 
Miss  Harris  was  bewildered,  by  the  sudden  and  fearful 
occurrence.  The  audience  surged  to  and  fro  in  frantic 
excitement.  Some  attempted  to  climb  up  the  supports 
and  into  the  box.  Then  came  those  clear  and  distinct 
tones  of  Laura  Keene,  first  in  the  theatre  to  understand 
and  appreciate  the  emergency  — "  Keep  quiet  in  your 
seats — give  him  air."  In  another  moment  certain  gen 
tlemen  found  presence  of  mind  to  order  the  throng  to 
leave  the  theatre.  The  gas  was  turned  down.  The 
crowd  at  last,  animated  by  a  common  impulse,  pushed 
for  the  outer  doors. 

As  they  emerged  from  the  building,  and  surged  up 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  toward  Willard's,  bearing  the 
news  of  the  President's  death,  they  met  another  panic- 
stricken  crowd  sweeping  down  the  avenue,  with  the 
tidings  of  the  attack  upon  Secretary  Seward.  Instantly, 
a  wild  apprehension  of  an  organized  conspiracy  and 
of  other  murders,  took  possession  of  the  people.  The 
streets  of  Washington  on  that  awful  night,  presented  a 
scene  of  wild  terror,  passion,  and  gloom,  such  as  was 
never  known  before,  and,  we  trust,  will  never  again  be. 

The  successful  attempt  to  murder  the  President  took 
place  before  thousands  of  spectators;  the  unsuccessful 
assault  on  Mr.  Seward  had  been  perpetrated  under 
more  extraordinary  if  not  desperate  circumstances. 
Through  the  streets  of  Washington,  filled  with  soldiers, 
surrounded  by  fortifications  and  patrols,  there  rode, 
whilst  the  citizens  were  still  awake  and  stirring,  a  soli 
tary  man  to  the  house  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  then 
lying  on  his  sick-bed  from  the  effects  of  an  accident 
which  rendered  him  as  helpless  as  a  child,  but  which,  at 


622  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  same  time,  as  the  assassin  well  knew,  rendered  it 
necessary  for  him  to  have  the  aid  of  others.  Two  of 
Mr.  Seward's  sons  and  two  male  attendants  were 
actually  about  his  bed,  or  in  the  adjoining  room,  when 
the  desperado,  under  a  plea  which  at  once  provoked  sus 
picion  and  resistance,  forced  his  way  up  from  the  hall,  and 
with  incredible  strength,  fury,  and  rapidity,  struck 
down  every  obstacle  between  him  and  his  victim,  whose 
throat  he  attempted  to  cut.  He  only  succeeded,  how 
ever,  in  inflicting  severe  gashes  upon  his  face,  his  blows 
being  partially  warded  off  by  the  bed-clothes  about  the 
Secretary's  neck,  and  by  the  additional  fact  that  Mr. 
Seward  rolled  out  upon  the  floor.  Then  stepping  over 
the  bleeding  bodies  of  Mr.  Seward's  two  sons  and  of  his 
two  attendants,  the  man  rushed  into  the  street,  ex 
claiming,  "Sic  Semper  Tyrannis"  leaped  upon  his  horse, 
and  galloping  along  the  side  of  the  square  in  which  the 
Secretary's  house  is  situated,  was  lost  to  sight. 

But  to  return  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  surgeons  who 
entered  the  box,  found  him  insensible,  and  were  satis 
fied  the  wound  was  mortal.  The  body  was  immediately 
borne  out  of  the  theatre  and  across  the  street  to  the 
house  of  a  Mr.  Peterson.  Around  the  dying  President 
were  soon  gathered  the  various  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
and  other  prominent  military  officers  and  civilians. 
Secretary  Stanton,  just  arrived  from  the  bedside  of  Mr. 
Seward,  asked  Surgeon-General  Barnes  what  was  Mr. 
Lincoln's  condition.  "I  fear,  Mr.  Stanton,  that  there 
is  no  hope."  "  Oh,  no,  general;  no,  no;"  and  the  man, 
of  all  others,  apparently  strange  to  tears,  sank  down 
beside  the  bed,  the  hot  bitter  evidences  of  an  awful 
sorrow  trickling  through  his  fingers  to  the  floor.  Sena- 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  623 

tor  Stunner  sat  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bed.  holding 
one  of  the  President's  hands  in  his  own,  and  sobbing 
with  kindred  grief.  Secretary  Welles  stood  at  the  foot 
of  the  bed,  his  face  hidden,  his  frame  shaken  with 
emotion.  General  Halleck,  Attorney-General  Speed, 
Postmaster-General  Dennison,  General  Meigs  and  others, 
visited  the  chamber  at  times,  and  then  retired. 

Thus,  all  through  the  night,  while  the  horror-stricken 
crowds  outside  swept  and  gathered  along  the  streets, 
while  the  military  and  police  were  patroling  and  weav 
ing  a  cordon  around  the  city ;  while  men  were  arming, 
and  asking  one  another,  "  What  victim  next  ?"  while 
the  telegraph  was  sending  the  news  from  city  to  city 
over  the  continent,  and  while  the  two  assassins  wTere 
speeding  unharmed  upon  fleet  horses  far  away — his 
chosen  friends  watched  about  the  death-bed  of  the 
highest  of  the  nation. 

The  Hon.  M.  B.  Field,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  in  a  letter,  thus  describes  the  place  and  the 
sad  scene  enacted  there : 

''  I  proceeded  at  once  to  the  room  in  which  the  President  was 
lying,  which  was  a  bedroom  in  an  extension,  on  the  first  or 
parlor  floor  of  the  house.  The  room  is  small,  and  is  ornamented 
with  prints,  a  very  familiar  one  of  Landseer's,  a  white  horse, 
being  prominent,  directly  over  the  bed.  The  bed  was  a  double 
one,  and  I  found  the  President  lying  diagonally  across  it,  with 
his  head  at  the  outside.  The  pillows  were  saturated  with 
blood,  and  there  was  considerable  blood  upon  the  floor  imme 
diately  under  him.  There  was  a  patch-work  coverlet  thrown 
over  the  President,  which  was  only  so  far  removed,  from  time 
to  time,  as  to  enable  the  physicians  in  attendance  to  feel  the 
arteries  of  the  neck  or  the  heart,  and  he  appeared  to  have  been 
divested  of  all  clothing.  His  eyes  were  closed  and  injected 


624  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

with  blood,  both  the  lids  and  the  portion  surrounding  the  eyes 
being  as  black  as  if  they  had  been  bruised  by  violence.  He 
was  breathing  regularly,  but  with  effort,  and  did  not  seem  to  be 
struggling  or  suffering.  .  .  . 

"  For  several  hours,  the  breathing  above  described  continued 
regularly,  and  apparently  without  pain  or  consciousness. 
But  about  seven  o'clock  a  change  occurred,  and  the  breathing, 
which  had  been  continuous,  was  interrupted  at  intervals. 
These  intervals  became  more  frequent  and  of  longer  duration, 
and  the  breathing  more  feeble.  Several  times  the  interval  was 
so  long,  that  we  thought  him  dead,  and  the  surgeon  applied  his 
finger  to  the  pulse,  evidently  to  ascertain  if  such  was  the  fact. 
But  it  was  not  until  twenty-two  minutes  past  seven  o'olock  in 
the  morning  that  the  flame  flickered  out.  There  was  no  ap 
parent  suffering,  no  convulsive  action,  no  rattling  of  the  throat, 
none  of  the  ordinary  premonitory  symptoms  of  death.  Death 
in  this  case  was  a  mere  cessation  of  breathing. 

"The  fact  had  not  been  ascertained  one  minute,  when  Dr. 
Gurley  offered  up  a  prayer.  The  few  persons  in  the  room 
were  all  profoundly  affected.  The  President's  eyes,  after  death, 
were  not,  particularly  the  right  one,  entirely  closed.  I  closed 
them  myself,  with  my  fingers.  The  expression  immediately 
after  death  was  purely  negative;  but  in  fifteen  minutes  there 
came  over  the  mouth,  the  nostrils,  and  the  chin,  a  smile  that 
seemed  almost  an  effort  of  life.  I  had  never  seen  upon  the 
President's  face  an  expression  more  genial  and  pleasing. 

"About  fifteen  minutes  before  the  decease,  Mrs.  Lincoln  came 
into  the  room,  and  threw  herself  upon  her  dying  husband's 
body.  She  was  allowed  to  remain  there  only  a  few  minutes, 
when  she  was  removed  in  a  sobbing  condition,  in  which, 
indeed,  she  had  been  during  all  the  time  she  was  present." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Gurley,  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Pres 
byterian  church,  immediately  on  its  being  ascertained 
that  life  was  extinct,  knelt  at  the  bedside,  and  offered 


THE  ASSASSINATION.  625 

an  impressive  prayer,  which  was  responded  to  by  all 
present.  He  then  proceeded  to  the  front  parlor,  where 
Mrs.  Lincoln,  Captain  Kobert  Lincoln,  Mr.  John  Hay, 
the,  private  secretary,  and  others  were  waiting,  where 
he  again  offered  a  prayer  for  the  consolation  of  the 
family. 

Shortly  after  nine  o'clock  the  remains  were  removed 
in  a  coffin  to  the  White  House,  attended  by  a  dense 
crowd,  and  escorted  by  a  squadron  of  cavalry  and 
several  distinguished  officers.  At  a  later  hour  a  post 
mortem  examination  was  made  of  the  remains,  by  Sur 
geon-General  Barnes,  Dr.  Stone,  the  late  President's 
family  physician,  Drs.  Crane,  Curtis,  Woodward,  Taft, 
and  other  eminent  medical  men. 

The  appalling  tragedy  at  Washington,  like  a  sudden 
and  profound  eclipse,  darkened  the  whole  land.  Its 
hideous  details  seemed  more  the  inventions  of  a  morbid 
imagination  than  the  stern  realities  which  they  were. 
In  the  midst  of  national  rejoicings  and  congratulations 
over  the  downfall  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  cheering 
prospects  of  a  glorious  peace,  under  the  generous  and 
forgiving  policy  of  restoration  foreshadowed  by  President 
Lincoln,  the  dreadful  tidings  of  his  death  by  the  hands 
of  an  assassin,  carried  a  sudden  and  heavy  weight  of 
anguish  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 
Every  man  felt  as  though  the  blow  had  fallen  at  his  own 
hearthstone ;  to  every  heart  it  came  as  a  personal  afflic 
tion.  The  startling  intelligence  created  a  keener  sor 
row,  a  deeper,  broader,  and  more  universal  sense  of  public 
loss,  than  perhaps  was  ever  before  experienced  in  any 
age,  in  any  country,  or  by  any  people,  over  the  death 
of  one  man.  The  simple,  genial,  and  generous  charac- 

40 


626  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ter  of  Mr.  Lincoln  had  taken  a  closer  hold  upon  the 
affections  of  the  masses  of  the  American  people  than 
that  of  any  of  their  chosen  favorites  since  the  days  of 
Washington.  From  every  heart,  and  from  every  family 
circle  there  went  up  a  cry  of  anguish,  "  The  President 
is  murdered,"  and  the  terrible  news  stunned  and  para 
lyzed  every  one  who  heard  it. 

At  eleven  o'clock  on  the  following  morning,  April  15, 
1865,  Vice  President  Johnson  was  inaugurated  President 
of  the  United  States,  receiving  the  oath  at  the  hand  of 
Chief  Justice  Chase,  at  the  rooms  of  the  Vice  President 
at  the  Kirkwood  House,  in  the  presence  of  the  Cabinet 
and  several  prominent  members  of  Congress.  His  brief 
remarks  were  appropriate  to  the  peculiar  and  gloomy 
circumstances  under  which  they  were  assembled,  and 
were  expressive  of  his  solemn  sense  of  the  duties  and 
obligations  thus  suddenly  devolved  upon  him  by  the 
death  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

A  general  gloom  pervaded  every  circle  of  society,  and 
every  face  wore  a  look  of  deepest  sorrow  at  the  loss  of 
one  who,  wise  and  beyond  reproach,  had  just  carried  the 
country  through  its  terrible  struggle. 

In  our  great  cities  men  went,  as  usual,  from  their 
homes  to  their  places  of  business  and  labor;  but  as  with 
one  accord,  when  the  certainty  of  the  President's  death 
was  announced,  all  business  was  at  an  end.  At  the 
earliest  tidings,  the  flags  and  streamers  which  in  exulta 
tion  over  Sumter's  restoration,  had,  the  day  before,  been 
fluttering  so  victoriously  in  the  breeze,  were  silently 
lowered ;  and  when  Mr.  Lincoln  breathed  his  last,  flagt< 
hung  at  half-mast,  and  the  fronts  of  public  buildings  and 
of  stores  were  draped  in  black.  Before  sunset,  almost 


THE    ASSASSINATION.  627 

every  dwelling  was  darkened  with  the  habiliments  of 
woe. 

Meanwhile  the  heads  of  departments,  commanders  of 
armies,  governors  of  States,  and  majors  of  cities,  issued 
orders  expressing  their  sense  of  the  loss,  and  calling  on 
those  under  their  direction  to  join  in  the  universal  sor 
row.  All  party  feeling  was  forgotten.  There  was,  in 
fact,  a  rivalry  of  grief  among  those  who  opposed  the 
party  of  which  Abraham  Lincoln  was  the  chosen  head, 
and  those  who  were  his  most  ardent  admirers  and  sup 
porters.  The  papers  everywhere  paid  their  tribute  to 
the  worth  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  most  appreciative,  per 
haps,  of  all  these  utterances  was  the  editorial  in  the  Neic 
York  World,  ever  noticeable  for  its  persistent  and  relent 
less  opposition  to  the  course  and  policy  of  the  murdered 
President. 

"THE  LATE  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN. 

'Never  before  in  history  has  there  been  an  occasion  so 
fraught  with  public  consequences  that  was,  at  the  same  time, 
so  like  an  overwhelming  domestic  affliction.  This  portentious 
national  calamity,  conscious  as  we  all  are  of  its  weighty  and 
inscrutable  significance  in  the  future  politics  of  the  country,  is 
also  so  full  of  affecting  pathos  and  tragic  horror  that  a  smitten 
people  are  overborne  by  a  flood  of  sensibility,  like  a  bereaved 
family  who  have  no  heart  to  think  on  their  estate  and  prospects 
when  the  tide  of  sudden  affliction  has  swept  away  the  support 
ing  prop  of  the  household.  By  no  other  single  achievement 
could  death  have  carried  such  a  feeling  of  desolation  into  every 
dwelling,  and  have  caused  this  whole  land  to  mourn  as  over 
the  sundering  of  some  dear  domestic  tie. 

"The  terrible  deed  which  has  filled  the  national  heart  with 
grief  and  consternation,  lacks  no  conceivable  accessory  of  tragic 


628  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

horror.  When  the  storm  which  has  gone  over  us  seemed  to 
have  spent  its  force,  there  is  suddenly  shot  from  an  unexpected 
quarter,  without  warning  or  preparation,  a  swift  thunderbolt, 
which  strikes  away  the  chief  pillar  of  the  state  and  shakes  the 
whole  edifice  to  its  foundations.  Death,  always  affecting,  be 
comes  horrible  when  dealt  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin  ;  even 
though'  the  victim  be  but  a  private  individual,  the  deed  of 
violence  spreads  a  feeling  of  uneasiness  and  alarm  through  an 
excited  community.  The  demise  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  a 
great  nation,  even  though  he  die  calmly  in  his  bed,  in  the  most 
tranquil  times,  is  an  awful  and  affecting  event ;  when  an  assas 
sin  deals  the  blow,  the  surcharge  of  horror  is  naturally  as  great 
in  proportion  as  in  the  case  of  a  murdered  individual ;  but  if 
the  calamity  comes  in  a  crisis  when  that  particular  life  is 
unusually  felt  to  be  of  supreme  value  to  a  nation's  hopes  and 
prospects,  the  awfulness  of  the  tragedy  is  heightened  by  all  the 
considerations  that  can  give  overwhelming  poignancy  to  a 
nation's  grief.  Even  the  unimportant  circumstances  and  sur 
roundings  of  this  foul  deed  have  a  tragic  complexion.  Perpe 
trated  on  the  anniversary  of  the  opening  of  the  war  ;  in  a  place 
of  public  amusement ;  in  the  presence  of  a  paralyzed  multitude, 
who  had  come  clustering  together  to  witness  a  spectacle ;  the 
murderer  an  actor  by  profession,  trained  to  an  exaggerated 
admiration  of  certain  historic  characters,  whose  suggestive 
names  had  become  prefixes  in  his  family  ;  his  escape  from  a 
crowded  assembly  by  leaping  upon  the  stage  and  disappearing 
behind  the  scenes  with  a  Latin  motto  in  his  mouth,  while  the 
consort  of  his  illustrious  victim  was  swooning  in  an  agony  of 
which  no  imagination  can  measure  the  depth ; — and  then  the 
cry  that  arose  at  midnight  in  all  the  cities  of  this  afflicted  land, 
and  the  horror  and  consternation  that  fell  upon  all  hearts  as  the 
sun  heaved  up  his  orb  into  the  morning  sky — all  this  together 
completes  a  spectacle  for  the  horror-struck  imagination  such  as 
history,  even  with  the  trappings  of  the  tragic  muse  to  set  it  off, 
has  seldom  or  never  approached.  What  has  the  Eternal  Mind, 


THE    ASSASSINATION.  629 

that  presides  over  and  shapes  out  the  course  of  human  history, 
in  store  for  us,  that  He  has  thus  permitted  to  be  spread  upon 
the  canvas  allotted  to  this  country  and  this  century  a  scene  so 
affecting  and  awful  that  none  of  its  colors  can  fade  till  both 
continents  are  engulfed  in  the  all-effacing  ocean  ? 

"  Whatever  a  wise  and  unsearchable  Providence  may  bring 
out  of  this  appalling  visitation,  we  can,  as  yet,  see  nothing  in  it 
but  calamity.  It  is  a  terrible  proof  of  the  depth,  intensity,  and 
danger  of  those  passions  which  have  been  awakened  into  such 
fearful  vigor  by  the  events  of  the  war.  An  ardent  young  man, 
not  personally  predisposed  to  crime;  brought  up  to  an  art 
which  stands  aloof  from  political  associations ;  accustomed  to 
view  the  events  of  history  only  on  their  pathetic  or  their  scenic 
side ;  trained  to  regulate  every  gesture  and  mould  every  linea 
ment  of  his  face  to  court  public  admiration  ;  this  young  man, 
with  this  imaginative  training,  is  not  transformed  into  an  assas 
sin  by  the  vulgar  impulses  of  an  ordinary  murderer.  In  this 
terrible  deed,  as  in  the  ordinary  exercise  of  his  profession,  he 
has  been  a  candidate  for  sympathy  and  approbation.  It  was 
his  instinctive  and  sympathetic  knowledge  of  what  lurks  in  the 
hearts  of  the  baffled  secessionists,  which  made  him  see  that  this 
unavailing  act  of  vengeance  would  enshrine  him  in  their  affec 
tions,  and  make  his  a  dear  and  canonized  name.  His  dreadful 
act  is  an  awful  commentary  on  the  consequences  of  party  pas 
sions  when  they  are  fanned  into  such  rage  that  they  strip  the 
most  odious  crimes  of  their  horror  and  clothe  them  in  the 
seductive  drapery  of  public  virtue.  While  the  disabled  half 
of  the  country  is  yet  a  cauldron  of  unsubdued  and  seething  pas 
sions,  it  is  lamentable  that  there  should  be  taken  from  us  a  mild 
and  paternal  chief  magistrate  who  was  preparing  to  pour  over 
these  agitated  passions  the  soothing  influence  of  his  natural 
clemency.  As  soon  as  the  war-cloud  visibly  lifted,  he  set  him 
self  to  the  performance  of  acts  which  commanded  the  approval 
even  of  his  former  opponents ;  and  the  day  which  preceded  his 
death  was  passed  in  employments  more  full  of  promise  than  any 


630  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

other  in  the  calendar  of  his  momentous  era.  There  will  fall 
into  his  opening  and  honored  grave  no  warmer  or  more  plenti 
ful  tribute  of  honest  sensibility  than  is  shed  by  those  of  his 
loyal  fellow-citizens  who  did  not  contribute  to  his  re-election. 

"  Of  the  career  brought  thus  suddenly  to  this  tragic  close  it 
is  yet  too  early  to  make  any  estimate  that  will  not  require 
revision.  It  is  probable  that  the  judgment  of  history  will  differ 
in  many  respects  from  that  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  contemporaries  ; 
and  in  no  respect,  perhaps,  more  than  in  reversing  the  current 
tenor  of  the  public  thinking  on  what  has  been  considered  the 
vacillation  of  his  character.  It  must  never  be  overlooked  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  elevated  to  the  Presidency  without  previous 
training ;  that  he  was  a  novice  in  the  discharge  of  high  execu 
tive  functions.  Confronted  at  the  very  threshold  with  problems 
of  a  novelty,  magnitude,  and  difficulty  which  would  have  caused 
the  most  experienced  statesman  to  quail,  beset  on  all  sides  by 
the  most  conflicting  advice,  it  would  not  have  been  wisdom, 
but  shallow  and  foolhardy  presumption,  indicating  unseemly 
levity  of  character,  if  he  had  affected  a  display  of  the  same  kind 
of  confident  decision  with  which  an  old  sailor  manages  a  cock 
boat  in  fair  weather.  If,  under  such  circumstances,  he  had 
played  the  role  of  a  man  of  decision,  he  would  have  forfeited  all 
title  to  be  considered  a  man  of  sense.  When  the  most  experi 
enced  and  reputable  statesmen  of  the  country  came  to  opposite 
conclusions,  it  is  creditable  to  the  strength,  solidity,  and  modesty 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  mind,  that  he  acted  with  a  cautious  and  hesitat 
ing  deliberation,  proportioned  rather  to  a  sense  of  his  great 
responsibilities,  than  to  a  theatrical  notion  of  political  stage 
effect. 

"  Had  the  country,  previous  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  first  election, 
foreseen  what  was  coming,  it  would  not  have  chosen  for  Presi 
dent  a  man  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  inexperience  and  peculiar  type  of 
character.  But  if  his  party  was  to  succeed,  we  doubt  whether 
foresight  and  deliberation  would  have  made  so  good  a  choice. 
With  the  Kepublican  party  in  power,  this  terrible  struggle 


THE  ASSASSINATION.  631 

inevitable ;  and,  with  a  man  of  fixed  views  and  inflexible  pur 
pose  at  the  head  of  the  government,  it  would  probably  have 
resulted  either  in  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  or  civil  war  in  the 
North.  In  either  event,  we  should  have  lost  our  institutions. 
The  stability  of  a  republican  government,  and,  indeed,  of  any 
form  of  free  government,  depends  upon  its  possessing  that  kind 
of  flexibility  which  yields  easily  to  the  control  of  public  opinion. 
In  this  respect  the  English  government  is  more  pliable  than  our 
own,  the  administration  being  at  all  times  subject  to  immediate 
change  by  losing  the  confidence  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people ;  whereas,  under  our  Constitution,  an  iron  inflexibility 
can  maintain  itself  in  office  for  the  full  period  of  four  years, 
without  any  possibility  of  displacing  it  except  by  revolution. 

"  In  ordinary  times,  this  works  well  enough ;  for  the  growth 
of  opinion  in  any  ordinary  four  years,  could  not  be  so  rapid  as 
to  indispose  the  people  to  await  the  Presidential  election.  But 
when  there  was  let  loose  upon  us,  at  the  beginning  of  the  last 
Administration,  the  wild  outbreakings  of  turbulence  and  trea 
son,  the  development  of  opinion  went  forward  with  gigantic 
strides,  corresponding  in  some  degree  to  the  violence  and  mag 
nitude  of  the  contest.  Any  policy  which  a  Republican  Presi 
dent  might  have  adopted  with  decision  in  the  spring  of  1861, 
and  adhered  to  with  steadiness  during  the  four  years,  would 
have  exposed  the  government  to  be  shivered  into  fragments  by 
the  shocks  of  changing  opinion.  What  was  wanting  in  the 
flexibility  of  our  political  system  was  made  up  in  the  character 
of  Mr,  Lincoln.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  absolute 
merits  of  the  late  President's  administration — on  which  it  would 
not  be  decorous  to  express  our  views  on  this  occasion — it  can 
not  well  be  denied  that  it  has  been,  throughout,  a  tolerably 
faithful  reflex  of  the  predominant  public  opinion  of  the  country. 
Whether  that  opinion  was,  at  any  particular  stage,  right  and 
wise,  is  a  different  question ;  but  it  cannot  be  doubtful  that  the 
predominant  opinion  carries  with  it  the  predominance  of  physi 
cal  strength.  A  government  against  which  this  is  arrayed  in 


632  THE   LIFE   OF   ABKAHAM    LINCOLN. 

gathering  force,  must  yield  to  it  or  go  to  pieces.  Had  Mr.  Lin 
coln  started  with  his  emancipation  policy  in  the  spring  of  1861, 
his  administration  would  have  been  wrecked  by  the  moral  aid 
which  would  have  been  given  the  South  by  the  northern  con 
servatives,  including  a  large  part  of  the  Republican  party.  Had 
he  refused  to  adopt  the  emancipation  policy  much  beyond  the 
autumn  of  1862,  the  Republican  party  would  have  refused  pub 
lic  support  to  the  war,  and  the  South  would  have  gained  its 
independence  by  their  aid.  With  a  stiff  Republican  Senate,  the 
government  would  have  been  at  a  dead  lock,  and  the  violence 
of  opinion  would  have  wrenched  its  conflicting  parts  asunder. 
Regarding  the  growth  of  opinion  simply  in  the  light  of  a  fact, 
we  must  concede  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  slowness,  indecision,  and 
reluctant  changes  of  policy  have  been  in  skillful,  or  at  least 
fortunate,  adaptation  to  the  prevailing  public  sentiment  of  the 
country.  Some  have  changed  more  rapidly,  some  more  slowly 
than  he ;  but  there  are  few  of  his  countrymen  who  have  not 
changed  at  all. 

"  If  we  look  for  the  elements  of  character  which  have  con 
tributed  to  the  extraordinary  and  constantly  growing  popularity 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  they  are  not  far  to  seek.  The  kindly,  com 
panionable,  jovial  turn  of  his  disposition,  free  from  every  taint 
of  affectation,  puerile  vanity,  or  parvenu  insolence,  conveyed  a 
strong  impression  of  worth,  sense,  and  solidity,  as  well  as  good 
ness  of  heart.  He  never  disclosed  the  slightest  symptom  that 
he  was  dazzled  or  elated  by  his  great  position,  or  that  it  was 
incumbent  upon  him  to  be  any  body  but  plain  Abraham 
Lincoln.  This  was  in  infinitely  better  taste  than  would  have 
been  any  attempt  to  put  on  manners  that  did  not  sit  easily  upon 
training  and  habits,  under  the  false  notion  that  he  would  be 
supporting  the  dignity  of  his  office.  No  offence  in  manners  is 
so  intolerable  as  affectation ;  nor  any  thing  so  vulgar  as  a  soul 
haunted  by  an  uneasy  consciousness  of  vulgarity.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
freedom  from  any  such  upstart  affectations  was  one  of  the  good 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  633 

points  of  his  character ;  it  betokened  his  genuineness  and  sin 
cerity. 

"The  conspicuous  weakness  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  mind  on  the 
side  of  imagination,  taste,  and  refined  sensibility,  has  rather 
helped  him  in  the  estimation  of  the  multitude.  Except  so  far 
as  they  contribute  something  to  dignity  of  character,  these 
qualities  have  little  scope  in  the  pursuits  of  a  statesman ;  and 
their  misplaced  obtrusion  is  always  offensive.  They  are  a 
great  aid,  to  be  sure,  in  electric  appeals  to  the  passions ;  but  in 
times  like  these  through  which  we  have  been  living,  the  pas 
sions  have  needed  sedatives,  not  incentives ;  and  the  cool 
mastery  of  emotion  has  deserved  to  rank  among  the  chief 
virtues.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  no  need  of  this  virtue,  because  the  slug 
gishness  of  his  emotional  nature  shielded  him  against  the  cor 
responding  temptation ;  but  this  defect  has  served  him  as  well 
as  the  virtue  amid  the  more  inflammable  natures  with  which 
he  has  been  in  contact.  His  character  was  entirely  relieved 
from  repulsive  matter-of-fact  hardness  by  the  unaffected  kindli 
ness  of  his  disposition  and  the  flow  of  his  homely  and  some 
what  grotesque  mother- wit — the  most  popular  of  all  the  minor 
mental  endowments. 

"  The  total  absence  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  sentiments  and  bear 
ing  of  any  thing  lofty  or  chivalric,  and  the  hesitating  slowness 
of  his  decisions,  did  not  denote  any  feebleness  of  character. 
He  has  given  a  signal  proof  of  a  strong  and  manly  nature  in 
the  fact  that  although  he  surrounded  himself  with  the  most 
considerable  and  experienced  statesmen  of  his  party,  none  of 
them  were  able  to  take  advantage  of  his  inexperience  and  gain 
any  conspicuous  ascendancy  over  him.  All  his  chief  designs 
iave  been  his  own ;  formed  indeed,  after  much  anxious  and 
brooding  consultation,  but,  in  the  final  result,  the  fruit  of 
his  own  independent  volition.  He  has  changed  or  retained 
particular  members  of  his  Cabinet,  and  indorsed  or  rejected 
particular  dogmas  of  his  party,  with  the  same  ultimate  reliance 
on  the  decisions  of  his  own  judgment.  It  is  this  feature  of  his 


634  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

character,  which  was  gradually  disclosed  to  the  public  view, 
together  with  the  cautious  and  paternal  cast  of  his  disposition, 
that  gave  his  strong  and  increasing  hold  on  the  confidence  of 
the  masses. 

"Among  the  sources  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  influence,  we  must  not 
omit  to  mention  the  quaint  and  peculiar  character  of  his 
written  and  spoken  eloquence.  It  was  as  Completely  his  own, 
as  much  the  natural  outgrowth  of  his  character,  as  his  personal 
manners.  Formed  on  no  model,  and  aiming  only  at  the  most 
convincing  statement  of  what  he  wished  to  say,  it  was  terse, 
shrewd,  clear,  with  a  peculiar  twist  in  the  phraseology  which 
more  than  made  up  in  point  what  it  sometimes  lost  by  its 
uncouthness.  On  the  multitude,  who  do  not  appreciate 
literary  refinement,  and  despise  literary  affectation,  its  effect 
was  as  great  as  the  same  ideas  and  arguments  could  have  pro 
duced  by  any  form  of  presentation.  His  style  had  the  great 
redeeming  excellence  of  that  air  of  straightforward  sincerity 
which  is  worth  all  the  arts  of  the  rhetorician. 

"  The  loss  of  such  a  man  in  such  a  crisis — of  a  man  who 
possessed  so  large  and  growing  a  share  of  the  public  confi 
dence,  and  whose  Administration  had  recently  borrowed  new 
lustre  from  the  crowning  achievements  of  our  armies — of  a 
ruler  whom  victory  was  inspiring  with  the  wise  and  paternal 
magnanimity  which  sought  to  make  the  conciliation  as  cordial 
as  the  strife  has  been  deadly ;  the  loss  of  such  a  President,  at 
such  a  conjuncture,  is  an  afflicting  dispensation,  which  bows  a 
disappointed  and  stricken  nation  in  sorrow  more  deep,  sincere, 
and  universal  than  ever  before  supplicated  the  compassion  of 
pitying  heaven." 

In  New  York,  where  countless  banners  waved  in  the 
sunlight  of  Good-Friday  7  whose  citizens  were  holding  a 
peerless  carnival  over  the  restoration  of  peace  and  union, 
the  transition  was  as  sudden  as  the  assassination  which 
called  it  forth.  Within  twenty-four  hours  the  metropolis 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  635 

seemed  like  a  vast  cemetery  which  held  a  million  of 
pall-bearers.  One  of  the  principal  features  of  the  display 
was  the  rapidity  with  which  it  appeared.  There  wag 
no  preconcerted  action  among  the  community ;  each 
citizen  felt,  by  instinct,  his  duty  to  the  occasion ;  and 
the  crape,  sable  cloth,  and  other  emblems  of  mourning, 
sprung,  as  if  by  magic,  from  the  stores  and  dwellings  of 
rich  and  poor.  Never  did  a  city  give  greater  evidence 
of  sorrow.  The  silent  thousands  who  walked  with 
downcast  heads  and  sad  countenances  through  the 
streets,  wore  the  mien  of  men  who  wander  through  a 
graveyard.  Wall  street  forgot  its  gold,  and  organized 
an  immense  and  grief-stricken  public  meeting,  at  which 
resolutions  were  passed,  and  stirring  addresses  made  by 
General  B.  F.  Butler,  Hon.  D.  S.  Dickinson  and  others. 
The  theatres  and  other  places  of  amusement  were 
closed,  and  remained  so  until  after  the  final  interment 
of  the  President's  remains.  In  obedience  to  a  proclama 
tion  of  the  Mayor,  places  of  business  were  closed,  as 
indeed,  they  might  have  been  without  any  official 
intimation,  for  business  made  no  part  of  the  doings  of 
the  busy  metropolis  on  this  day  of  overwhelming  public 
grief.  The  courts,  Boards  of  Aldermen,  Common  Coun 
cils,  and  other  public  bodies,  adjourned,  after  passing 
resolutions  of  condolence  with  the  nation  upon  its  be 
reavement;  and  all  the  festivities  which  were  in  pro 
cess  of  preparation  for  the  next  week,  in  celebration  of 
the  recent  victories,  were  at  once,  by  common  consent, 
indefinitely  postponed. 

And  the  same  scene  was  enacted  in  every  city,  in 
every  town,  village  and  hamlet  of  the  land,  from  the 
Aroostook  to  the  Land  of  Gold  on  the  Pacific  shore. 


636  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

At  Nashville,  the  procession,  postponed  from  the  pre 
vious  day,  was  just  forming  when  the  news  was  received. 
Joy  gave  place  to  sorrow,  the  strains  of  exultation 
changed  to  funeral  marches,  and  the  military,  with  arms 
reversed,  returned  to  their  camps. 

At  Cincinnati,  Columbus,  Wheeling,  Louisville,  St. 
Louis,  and  even  at  San  Francisco  and  the  cities  of  Cali 
fornia,  the  same  scenes  were  repeated;  and  the  spon 
taneous  cessation  of  business,  the  closing  of  courts,  the 
draping  of  the  towns  in  mourning,  evinced  the  sorrowful 
emotion  of  grief. 

Even  in  the  British  Provinces  marks  of  respect  were 
shown.  In  Nova  Scotia,  the  Governor  was  about  to 
visit  the  Legislative  Council,  to  give  assent  to  the  laws 
with  the  usual  ceremonies,  but  on  hearing  of  the  sad 
news  sent  the  following  message  to  the  Council : 

"  GOVERNMENT  HOUSE,  HALIFAX,  K  S., 

Saturday,  April  15,  1865. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — Very  shocking  intelligence  which  has  just 
reached  me  of  the  murder  of  President  Lincoln  by  the  hand 
of  an  assassin,  and  my  sense  of  the  loss  which  the  cause  of 
order  has  sustained  by  the  death  of  a  man  whom  I  have  always 
regarded  as  eminently  upright  in  his  intentions,  indisposes  me 
to  make  any  public  ceremony  such  as  I  had  contemplated  in 
my  intended  visit  to  the  Legislative  Council  to-day.  I  beg, 
therefore,  to  notify  to  you  the  postponement  of  that  visit,  and, 
perhaps,  under  the  circumstances,  men  of  all  parties  may  feel 
the  suspension  of  further  public  business  for  the  day  would  be 
a  mark  of  sympathy  not  unbecoming  the  Legislature  to  offer, 
one  which  none  could  misconstrue. — Believe  me  to  be,  very 
clear  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"KlCHARD   GrROVES   McDoWELL. 

"  To  EDWARD  KINNEY, 

"  President  of  the  Legislative  Council." 


THE  ASSASSINATION.  637 

At  Toronto,  the  flags  on  the  custom  house,  and  the 
shipping  were  displayed  at  half-mast,  and  Canadians 
there  and  elsewhere  shared  in  the  expressions  manifested 
by  resident  Americans. 

The  bishops  of  the  Catholic  and  Episcopal  Churches, 
as  well  as  the  heads  of  other  denominations,  all  promptly 
came  forward  to  join  in  the  public  grief,  and  appointed 
special  services  for  Wednesday,  which  had  been  set  apart 
for  the  funeral. 

In  many  of  the  Jewish  synagogues,  on  the  day  of  his 
death,  prayers  were  offered  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  according 
to  the  ritual  of  that  ancient  people. 

Among  the  many  eloquent  discourses  pronounded  on 
the  following  day,  Sunday,  we  select  a  portion  of  the 
eloquent  sermon  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Henry  "W. 
Bellows,  D.D.,  in  All  Souls'  Church,  New  York,  on 
Easter  morning : 

"It  is,  dear  brethren,  the  faith  and  hope  and  trust  of  those 
inspired  by  the  Comforter  Jesus  sent,  that  enables  us  to  con 
front  without  utter  dismay,  the  appalling  visitation  that  has 
just  fallen  with  such  terrible  suddenness  upon  the  country  and 
the  national  cause!  With  a  heart  almost  withered,  a  brain 
almost  paralyzed  by  the  shock,  I  turn  in  vain  for  consolation 
to  any  other  than  the  Comforter  !  Just  as  we  were  wreathing 
the  laurels  of  our  victories  and  the  chaplets  of  our  peace,  in 
with  the  Easter  flowers  that  bloom  around  the  empty  sepulchre 
of  our  ascended  Lord;  just  as  we  were  preparing  the  fit 
and  luminous  celebration  of  a  nation's  joy  in  its  providential 
deliverance  from  a  most  bloody  and  costly  war,  and  feeling  that 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  freshly  and  gloriously  inter 
preted  by  the  rising  of  our  smitten,  humiliated,  reviled,  and 
crucified  country,  buried  in  the  distrust  of  foreign  nations  and 
the  intentions  of  rebel  hearts ;  a  country  rising  from  the  tomb, 


638  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

where  she  had  left,  as  discarded  grave-clothes,  the  accursed 
vestments  of  slavery,  that  had  poisoned,  enfeebled,  and  nearly 
destroyed  her  first  life ;  a  country  rising  to  a  higher,  purer 
existence  under  the  guidance  of  a  chief  whom  it  fondly 
thought  sent  from  above  to  lead  it  cautiously,  wisely,  conscien 
tiously,  successfully,  like  another  Moses,  through  the  Red  Sea 
into  the  promised  land ;  just  then,  at  the  proud  moment  when 
the  nation  its  four  years  of  conflict  fully  sounded,  had 
announced  its  ability  to  diminish  its  armaments,  withdraw 
its  call  for  troops  and  its  restrictions  on  intercourse,  comes  as 
out  of  a  clear  heaven  the  thunderbolt  that  pierces  the  tender, 
sacred  head  that  we  were  ready  to  crown  with  a  nation's 
blessings,  while  trusting  to  its  wisdom  and  gentleness,  its  faith 
fulness  and  prudence,  the  closing  up  of  the  country's  wounds, 
and  the  apparelling  of  the  nation,  her  armor  laid  aside,  in  the 
white  robes  of  peace. 

"Our  beloved  President,  who  had  enshrined  himself  not 
merely  in  the  confidence,  the  respect,  and  the  gratitude  of  the 
people,  but  in  their  very  hearts,  as  their  true  friend,  adviser, 
representative,  and  brother;  whom  the  nation  loved  as  much 
as  it  revered ;  who  had  soothed  our  angry  impatience  in 
this  fearful  struggle  with  his  gentle  moderation  and  passionless 
calm ;  who  had  been  the  head  of  the  nation,  and  not  the  chief 
of  a  successful  party ;  and  had  treated  our  enemies  like  rebel 
lious  children,  and  not  as  foreign  foes,  providing  even  in  their 
chastisement  for  mercy  and  penitent  restoration ;  our  prudent, 
firm,  humble,  reverential,  God-fearing  President  is  dead ! 

"  The  assassin's  hand  has  reached  him  who  was  belted  round 
with  a  nation's  devotion,  and  whom  a  million  soldiers  have 
hitherto  encircled  with  their  watchful  guardianship.  Panoplied 
in  honesty  and  simplicity  of  purpose,  too  universally  well- 
disposed  to  believe  in  danger  to  himself,  free  from  ambition, 
self- consequence,  and  show,  he  has  always  shown  a  fearless 
heart,  gone  often  to  the  front,  made  himself  accessible  to  all  at 
home,  trusted  the  people,  joined  their  amusements,  answered 


•**         THE   ASSASSINATION.  639 

their  summons,  and  laid  himself  open  every  day  to  the  malice 
and  murderous  chances  of  domestic  foes.  It  seemed  as  if  no 
man  could  raise  his  hand  against  that  meek  ruler,  or  confront 
with  purpose  of  injury  that  loving  eye,  that  sorrow-stricken 
face,  ploughed  with  care,  and  watchings,  and  tears !  So  marked 
with  upright  patient  purposes  of  good  to  all,  of  justice  and 
mercy,  of  sagacious  roundabout  wisdom,  was  his  homely 
paternal  countenance,  that  I  do  not  wonder  that  his  murderer 
killed  him  from  behind,  and  could  not  face  the  look  that  would 
have  disarmed  him  in  the  very  moment  of  his  criminal"  mad 
ness. 

"But  he  has  gone!  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States  during  the  most  difficult,  trying,  and  important 
period  of  the  nation's  history ;  safe  conductor  of  our  policy 
through  a  crisis  such  as  no  other  people  ever  had  to  pass ;  suc 
cessful  summoner  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  American 
citizens  to  arms  in  behalf  of  their  flag  and  their  Union ;  author 
of  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation ;  the  people's  President ; 
the  heir  of  Washington's  place  at  the  hearths  and  altars  of  the 
land ;  legitimate  idol  of  the  negro  race — the  perfect  type  of 
American  democracy — the  astute  adviser  of  our  generals  in 
the  field ;  the  careful  student  of  their  strategy,  and  their  per 
sonal  friend  and  inspirer ;  the  head  of  his  Cabinet,  prevailing 
by  the  passionless  simplicity  of  his  integrity  and  unselfish 
patriotism  over  the  larger  experience,  the  more  brilliant '  gifts, 
the  more  vigorous  purposes  of  his  constitutional  advisers; 
a  President  indeed ;  not  the  mere  figure-head  of  the  State,  but 
its  helmsman  and  pilot ;  shrinking  from  no  perplexity,  mag 
nanimous  in  self-accusation  and  in  readiness  to  gather  into  his 
own  bosom  the  spears  of  rebuke  aimed  at  his  counsellors  and 
agents ;  the  tireless  servant  of  bis  place ;  no  duty  so  small  and 
wearisome  that  he  shirked  it,  none  so  great  and  persistent  that 
he  sought  to  fling  it  upon  others ;  the  man  who  fully  tried  (not 
without  fitful  vacillations  of  public  sentiment  which  visited  on 
him  the  difficulties  of  the  times  and  situation),  tried  through 


640  THE   LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

four  years  in  which  every  quality  of  the  man,  the  statesman, 
the  Christian,  was  tested;  in  the  face  of  a  jeering  enemy 
and  foreign  sneers  and  domestic  ribaldry,  elected  again  by 
overwhelming  majorities,  to  be  their  chief  and  their  repre 
sentative  during  another  term  of  office,  in  which  it  was  sup 
posed  even  superior  qualities  and  services  would  be  required  to 
meet  the  nation's  exigencies.  This  tried,  this  honored,  this 
beloved  head  of  the  government  and  country  is,  alas !  suddenly 
snatched  from  us  at  the  moment  of  our  greatest  need  and  our 
greatest  joy,  and  taken  up  higher  to  his  heavenly  reward! 
Thank  God,  he  knew  how  the  nation  loved  and  reverenced 
him !  His  re-election  was  the  most  solid  proof  of  that  which 
could  possibly  have  been  given.  He  has  tasted,  too,  the  negro's 
pious  gratitude  and  tearful,  glorious  affection !  He  had  lived 
to  give  the  order  for  ceasing  our  preparations  for  war — an  act 
almost  equivalent  to  proclaiming  peace !  He  had  seen  of  the 
travail  of  his  soul,  and  was  satisfied.  He  had  done  the  work 
of  a  life  in  his  first  term  of  service ;  almost  every  day  of  his 
second  term,  not  forty  days  old,  had  been  marked  with  victories, 
until  no  good  news  could  have  been  received  that  would  have 
much  swelled  his  joy  and  honest  pride !  And  now,  as  the 
typical  figure,  the  historic  name  of  this  great  era,  its  glory 
rounded  and  full,  the  Almighty  Wisdom  has  seen  fit  to  close 
the  record,  and  isolate  the  special  work  he  has  done,  lest  by  any 
possible  mischance  the  flawless  beauty  and  symmetric  oneness 
of  the  President's  career  should  be  impaired,  its  unique  glory 
compromised  by  after  issues,  or  its  special  lustre  mixed  with 
rays  of  another  color,  though  it  might  be  of  an  equal  splendor ! 
"The  past,  at  least,  is  secure!  Nothing  can  touch  him 
further.  Standing  the  central  form  in  the  field  of  this  mighty, 
providential  struggle,  he  fitly  represents  the  purity,  calmness, 
justice,  and  mercy  of  the  loyal  American  people;  their  uncon- 
quered  resolution  to  conquer  secession  and  break  slavery 
in  pieces ;  their  sober,  mild  sense ;  their  religious  confidence 
that  God  is  on  their  side,  and  their  cause  the  cause  of  universal 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  641 

humanity !  Let  us  be  reconciled  to  the  appointment  wliicli  has 
released  that  weighty  and  patient  head,  that  pathetic  tender 
heart,  that  worn  and  weary  hand,  from  the  perplexing  details 
of  national  rehabilitation.  Let  the  lesser,  meaner  cares  and 
anxieties  of  the  country  fall  on  other  shoulders  than  those 
which  have  borne  up  the  pillars  of  the  nation  when  shaken 
with  the  earthquake. 

"And  seeing  it  is  God  who  has  afflicted  us,  who  doeth 
all  things  well,  let  us  believe  that  it  is  expedient  for  us  that 
our  beloved  chief  should  go  away.  He  goes  to  consecrate  his 
work  by  flinging  his  life  as  well  as  his  labors  and  his  conscience 
into  the  nation's  cause.  He  that  has  cheered  so  many  on  to 
bloody  sacrifice,  found  unexpected,  surprising  opportunity  to 
give  also  his  own  blood !  He  died,  as  truly  as  any  warrior 
dies  on  the  battle-field,  in  the  nation's  service,  and  shed  his 
blood  for  her  sake !  It  was  the  nation  that  was  aimed  at  by 
the  bullet  that  stilled  his  aching  brain.  As  the  representative 
of  a  cause,  the  type  of  a  victory,  he  was  singled  out  and  slain ! 
His  life  and  career  now  have  the  martyr's  palm  added  to 
the  statesman's,  philanthropist's,  and  patriot's  crowns.  His 
place  is  sure  in  the  innermost  shrine  of  his  country's  gratitude. 
His  name  will  match  with  Washington's,  and  go  with  it  laden 
with  blessings  down  to  the  remotest  posterity ! 

"  And  may  we  not  have  needed  this  loss,  in  which  we  gain  a 
national  martyr  and  an  ascended  leader,  to  inspire  us  from  his 
heavenly  seaV  where  with  the  other  father  of  his  country  he 
sits  in  glory,  while  they  send  united  benedictions  and  lessons 
of  comfort  and  of  guidance  down  upon  their  common  children — 
may  we  not  have  needed  this  loss  to  sober  our  hearts  in  the 
midst  of  our  national  triumph,  lest  in  the  excess  of  our  joy  and 
our  pride  we  should  overstep  the  bounds  of  that  prudence 
and  the  limits  of  that  earnest  seriousness  which  our  affairs 
demand  ?  We  have  stern  and  solemn  duties  yet  to  perform, 
great  and  anxious  tasks  to  achieve.  We  must  not,  after 
ploughing  the  fields  with  the  burning  share  of  civil  war,  and 
41 


642  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

fertilizing  them  with  the  blood  and  bones  of  a  half  million 
noble  youth,  lose  the  great  harvest  by  wasting  the  short  season 
of  ingathering  in  festive  joy  at  its  promise  and  its  fulness  ! 
We  have,  perhaps,  been  prematurely  glad.  In  the  joy  of 
seeing  our  haven  in  view,  we  have  been  disposed  to  slacken 
the  cordage  and  let  the  sails  flap  idly,  and  the  hands  go  below, 
when  the  storm  was  not  fairly  over,  nor  all  the  breakers  out  of 
sight !  God  has  startled  us,  to  apprize  us  of  our  peril ;  to  warn 
us  of  possible  mischances,  and  to  caution  us  how  we  abuse  our 
confidence  and  overtrust  our  enemy.  I  hope  and  pray  that  the 
nation  may  feel  itself,  by  the  dreadful  calamity  that  has  befallen 
it,  summoned  to  its  knees ;  called  to  a  still  more  pious  sense 
of  its  dependence,  toned  up  to  its  duties,  and  compelled  to 
watch  with  the  most  eager  patience  the  course  of  its  generals, 
its  statesmen,  and  its  press.  It  cannot  be  for  nothing  vast  and 
important  that  the  venerated  and  beloved  head  of  this  people 
and  his  chief  counsellor  and  companion  have  thus  been  brought 
low  in  an  hour,  one  to  his  very  grave,  the  other  to  the  gates 
of  death ! 

"It  would  seem  as  if  every  element  of  tragic  power  and 
pathos  were  fated  to  enter  this  rebellion  and  mark  it  out  forever 
as  a  warning  to  the  world.  It  really  began  in  the  Senate 
House,  when  the  bludgeon  of  South  Carolina  felled  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  and  the  honor  of  the  Union  in  the  person  of  a 
brave  and  eloquent  Senator.  The  shot  at  Fort  Sumter  was  not 
so  truly  the  fatal  beginning  of  the  war  as  the  blow  in  the  Senate 
Chamber.  That  blow  proclaimed  the  barbarism,  the  cruelty, 
the  stealthiness,  the  treachery,  the  recklessness  of  reason  and 
justice,  the  contempt  of  prudence  and  foresight  which  a  hundred 
years  of  legalized  oppression  and  inhumanity  had  bred  in  the 
South  !  And  now,  that  blow,  deepening  into  thunder,  echoes 
from  the  head  of  the  Chief  Magistrate,  as  if  slavery  could  not 
be  dismissed  forever,  until  her  barbaric  cruelty,  her  reckless 
violence,  her  political  blasphemy,  had  illustrated  itself  upon  the 
most  conspicuous  arena,  under  the  most  damning  light  and  the 


v  THE    ASSASSINATION.  643 

most  memorable  and  unforgetable  circumstances  in  which  crime 
was  ever  yet  committed ! 

"  And  in  the  same  hour  that  the  thoughtful,  meek,  and  care 
worn  head  of  the  President  was  smitten  to  death — a  head  that 
had  sunk  to  its  pillow  for  so  many  months  full  of  unembittered, 
gentle,  conciliatory,  yet  anxious  and  watchful  thoughts — the 
neck  on  which  the  President  had  leaned  with  an  affectionate 
confidence  that  was  half  womanly,  during  all  his  administration, 
was  assailed  with  the  bowie-knife,  which  stands  for  southern 
vengeance,  and  slavery's  natural  weapon !  The  voice  of  the 
free  North,  the  tongue  and  throat  of  liberty,  was  fitly  assailed, 
when  slavery  and  secession  would  exhibit  her  dying  feat  of 
malignant  revenge.  Through  the  channels  of  that  neck  had 
flowed  for  thirty  years,  the  temperate,  persistent,  strong,  steady 
currents  of  this  nation's  resistance  to  the  encroachments  of  the 
slave-power,  of  this  people's  aspirations  for  release  from  the 
curse  and  the  peril  of  a  growing  race  of  slaves.  That  throat  had 
voiced  the  nation's  argument  in  the  Senate  Chamber.  The 
arm  that  had  written  the  great  series  of  letters  which  defended 
the  nation  from  the  schemes  of  foreign  diplomatists,  was  already 
accidentally  broken ;  the  jaw  that  had  so  eloquently  moved 
was  dislocated  too ;  but  slavery  remembered  the  neck  that  bowed 
not  when  most  others  were  bent  to  her  power;  remembered 
the  throat  that  was  vocal  in  her  condemnation  when  most  others 
in  public  life  were  silent  from  policy  or  fear :  remembered  the 
words  of  him,  who  more  than  any  man,  slew  her  with  his  tongue ; 
and  so  her  last  assault  was  upon  the  jugular  veins  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  State.  Her  bloodhounds  sprang  at  the  throat  of  him 
who  had  denied  their  right  and  broken  their  power  to  spring 
at  the  neck  of  the  slave  himself ! 

"  But  thus  far,  thank  God,  slavery  is  baffled  in  her  last  effort. 
Mr.  Seward  lives  to  tell  us  what  no  man  knows  so  well,  the 
terrible  perils  through  which  we  have  passed  at  home  and 
abroad  ;  lives  to  tell  us  the  goodness,  the  wisdom,  the  piety  of 
the  President  he  was  never  weary  of  praising.  "  He  is  the  best 


644  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

man  I  ever  knew;"  he  said  to  me  a  year  ago.  What  a  eulogy 
from  one  so  experienced,  so  acute,  so  wise,  so  gentle!  Ah, 
brethren,  the  head  of  the  government  is  gone;  but  he,  who 
knew  his  counsels,  and  was  his  other  self,  still  lives,  and  may 
God  hear  to-day  a  nation's  prayer  for  his  life. 

"  Meanwhile  heaven  rejoices  this  Easter  morning  in  the 
resurrection  of  our  lost  leader,  honored  in  the  day  of  his  death  ; 
dying  on  the  anniversary  of  our  Lord's  great  sacrifice,  a  mighty 
sacrifice  himself  for  the  sins  of  a  whole  people. 

"  We  will  not  grudge  him  his  release,  or  selfishly  recall  him 
from  his  rest  and  his  reward !  The  only  unpitied  object  in  this 
national  tragedy,  he  treads  to-day  the  courts  of  light,  radiant 
with  the  joy  that  even  in  heaven  celebrates  our  Saviour's  resur 
rection  from  the  dead  !  The  sables  we  hang  in  our  sanctuaries 
and  streets  have  no  place  where  he  is !  His  hearse  is  plumed 
with  a  nation's  grief;  his  resurrection  is  hailed  with  the  songs 
of  revolutionary  patriots,  of  soldiers  that  have  died  for  their 
country.  He,  the  commander-in-chief,  has  gone  to  his  army  of 
the  dead !  The  patriot  President  has  gone  to  our  Washington ! 
The  meek  and  lowly  Christian  is  to-day  with  him  who  said  on 
earth,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  and  who,  rising  to-day,  fulfills  his 
glorious  words,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life ;  he  that 
believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live :  and 
whoso  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die." 

At  St.  Patrick's  (Roman  Catholic)  Cathedral,  New 
York,  after  the  pontifical  mass  was  finished,  Archbishop 
McCloskey,  from  the  steps  of  the  altar,  spoke  as  follows : 

"  You  will,  I  trust,  beloved  brethren,  pardon  me  if,  notwith 
standing  the  length  of  the  services  at  which  you  have  been 
assisting,  I  should  ask  the  privilege  of  trespassing  for  a  few 
moments  more  upon  your  patience.  The  privilege  I  ask  is, 
indeed,  a  sad  and  mournful  one,  a  privilege  that  I  have  reserved 
for  myself  alone  ;  for  the  reason  that  I  could  not,  and  that  I 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  645 

cannot,  without  injustice  to  my  own  feelings,  and,  I  am  sure,  to 
your  feelings  also,  allow  myself  to  forego  it ;  and  that  privilege, 
as  you  doubtless  already  anticipate,  is  of  addressing  to  you  at 
least  a  few  brief  and  imperfect  words  in  regard  to  the  great, 
and,  I  may  say,  the  awful  calamity  which  has  so  unexpectedly 
and  so  suddenly  fallen  upon  our  beloved  and  now  still  more 
than  ever  afflicted  country.  But  two  days  ago  we  beheld  the 
rejoicings  of  an  exultant  people,  mingling  even  with  the  sor 
rowful  memory  of  our  Saviour's  crucifixion.  To-day  we  behold 
that  same  people's  sorrow  mingling  with  the  grand  rejoicings 
of  our  Saviour's  resurrection.  It  is,  indeed,  a  sad  and  a  sudden 
transformation.  It  is  a  mornful — it  is  even  a  startling  contrast. 
The  Church  could  not  divest  herself  of  her  habiliments  of  woe 
in  Good  Friday,  neither  can  she  now  lay  aside  her  festive  robes, 
nor  hush  her  notes  of  joy,  gladness,  and  thanksgiving  on  this, 
her  glorious  Easter  Sunday.  Still,  although  as  children  of  the 
Church  we  must  and  do  participate  in  all  her  sentiments  of  joy, 
yet,  at  the  same  time,  as  children  of  the  nation,  as  children  of 
this  republic,  we  do  not  less  sincerely,  or  less  feelingly,  or  less 
largely,  share  in  that  nation's  grief  and  sorrow.  *  *  *  * 
Our  hopes  are  stronger,  far  stronger,  than  our  fears ;  our  trust 
and  confidence  in  a  good,  gracious,  and  merciful  God  is  stronger 
than  the  foreshadowings  of  what  may  be  awaiting  us  in  the  fu 
ture;  and  it  is  to  him-to-day,  in  our  trials  and  adversities,  we 
raise  our  voices  in  supplication.  Him  we  beseech  to  give  light  to 
those  who  are  and  who  are  to  be  the  rulers  of  the  destinies  of 
our  nation,  that  he  may  give  life  and  safety  and  peace  to  our 
beloved  country.  We  pray  that  those  sentiments  of  mercy,  of 
clemency,  and  of  conciliation,  that  filled  the  heart  of  the  beloved 
President  we  have  just  lost,  may  animate  the  breast  and  guide 
the  actions  of  him  who  in  this  most  trying  hour  is  called  to  fill 
his  place.  And  we  may  take  comfort,  beloved  brethren,  in  the 
thought  that  in  the  latest  intelligence  which  has  reached  us, 
the  honored  Secretary  of  State  (a  man  full  of  years  and  of 
honors),  who  was,  like  his  superior,  stricken  down  by  the  hand 


646  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

of  a  ruthless  assassin,  still  lives,  and  well-founded  hopes  are 
entertained  of  his  final  recovery.  Let  us  pray,  then,  that  a  life 
always  valuable;  but  in  this  critical  state  of  affairs  dear  to  every 
one  of  us,  may  be  long  preserved,  and  that  the  new  President 
may  have  the  advantage  of  the  wisdom,  the  experience,  and  the 
prudence  of  this  honored  Secretary  of  State.  I  need  not  tell 
you,  my  beloved  brethren,  children  of  the  Catholic  Church,  to 
leave  nothing  undone  to  show  your  devotion,  your  attachment, 
and  your  fidelity  to  the  institutions  of  your  country  in  this 
great  crisis,  this  trying  hour.  I  need  not  ask  you  to  omit 
nothing  in  joining  in  every  testimonial  of  respect  and  honor  to 
the  memory  of  that  President,  now,  alas !  no  more.  On  what 
ever  day  may  be  appointed  for  his  obsequies,  although  the 
solemn  dirge  of  requiem  cannot  resound  within  these  walls,  yet 
the  dirge  of  sorrow,  of  grief,  and  of  bewailing,  can  echo  and 
re-echo  within  your  hearts.  And,  on  that  day,  whenever  it 
may  be,  the  doors  of  this  cathedral  shall  be  thrown  open,  that 
you,  beloved  brethren,  may  bow  down  before  this  altar,  adoring 
the  inscrutable  decrees  of  a  just  and  all- wise  Providence, 
beseeching  his  mercy  on  us  all,  and  imploring  him,  that  now 
at  least  his  anger  may  be  appeased,  and  the  cruel  scourge  of 
war  cease,  and  that  those  rivers  and  torrents  of  human  blood, 
of  fratricidal  blood,  that  have  been  saturating  for  so  long  a  time 
the  soil  of  our  beloved  country  may  no  longer  flow  over  our 
unhappy  land.  Yes,  let  us  pray,  while  almost  even  in  sight  of 
that  deed  of  horror,  which,  like  an  electric  shock,  has  come  upon 
and  appalled  our  fellow-citizens  in  every  section,  of  the  land — let 
us  pray  to  him  that  we  may  now  forget  our  enmities,  and  that  we 
may  be  enabled  to  restore  that  peace  which  has  so  long  been 
broken.  Let  us  take  care,  beloved  brethren,  that  no  spirit  of 
retribution  or  of  wicked  spite,  or  of  malice,  or  resentment,  shall, 
at  this  moment,  take  possession  of  our  hearts.  The  hand  of 
God  is  upon  us ;  let  us  take  care  that  we  do  not  provoke  him 
to  bow  us  down  with  misery  and  woe.  Even  over  the  grave 
of  the  illustrious  departed  who  has  been  taken  from  us,  over 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  647 

the  graves  of  so  many  enemies  and  friends,  in  every  section  of 
the  land,  fallen  in  the  deadly  conflict,  let  us  hope  that  those  who 
are  spared,  who  are  still  living,  may  come  and  join  their  hands 
together  in  sweet  forgiveness ;  and  let  us  pledge  ourselves,  one 
to  the  other,  that  we  will  move  and  act  together  in  unity  and 
in  perpetual  and  divine  peace." 

The  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who  had  been 
aosent  upon  the  excursion  to  Fort  Sumter,  not  arriving 
in  season  to  pronounce  a  discourse  on  that  day,  delivered 
at  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn,  on  the  ensuing  Sunday, 
the  following  sermon : 

DISCOURSE    OF   REV.    HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

"And  Moses  went  up  from  the  plains  of  Moab,  unto  the  mountain  of 
Nebo,  to  the  top  of  Pisgah,  that  is  over  against  Jericho :  and  the  Lord 
showed  him  the  land  of  Gilead,  unto  Dan. 

"And  all  Naphtali,  and  the  land  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and  all  the 
land  of  Judah,  unto  the  utmost  sea, 

"And  the  South,  and  the  plain  of  the  valley  of  Jericho,  the  city  of 
palm-trees,  unto  Zoar. 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  This  is  the  land  which  I  sware  unto 
Abraham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  saying,  I  will  give  it  unto  thy 
seed :  I  have  caused  thee  to  see  it  with  thine  eyes,  but  thou  shalt  not  go 
over  thither. 

"So  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  died  there  in  the  Land  of  Moab, 
according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord." 

"There  is  no  historic  figure  more  noble  than  that  of  the 
Jewish  lawgiver.  After  many  thousand  years  the  figure  of 
Moses  is  not  diminished,  but  stands  up  against  the  background 
of  early  days,  distinct  and  individual  as  if  he  lived  but  yester 
day.  There  is  scarcely  another  event  in  history  more  touching 
than  his  death.  He  had  borne  the  great  burdens  of  state  for 
forty  years,  shaped  the  Jews  to  a  nation,  filled  out  their  civil 
and  religious  polity,  administered  their  laws,  and  guided  their 
steps,  or  dwelt  with  them  in  all  their  sojourning  in  the  wilder- 


648  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ness,  had  mourned  in  their  punishment,  kept  step  with  their 
marches,  and  led  them  in  wars,  until  the  end  of  their  labors 
drew  nigh,  the  last  stages  were  reached,  and  Jordan  only  lay 
between  them  and  the  promised  land.  The  promised  land ! 
Oh  what  yearnings  had  heaved  his  breast  for  that  divinely 
promised  place !  He  had  dreamed  of  it  by  night,  and  mused 
by  day ;  it  was  holy,  and  endeared  as  God's  favored  spot ;  it 
was  to  be  the  cradle  of  an  illustrious  history.  All  his  long, 
laborious,  and  now  weary  life,  he  had  aimed  at  this  as  the  con 
summation  of  every  desire,  the  reward  of  every  toil  and  pain. 
Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  him,  '  Thou  must  not  go 
over.  Get  thee  up  into  the  mountain,  look  upon  it,  and  die.' 
From  that  silent  summit  the  hoary  leader  gazed  to  the  north, 
to  the  south,  to  the  west,  with  hungry  eyes.  The  dim  outlines 
rose  up,  the  hazy  recesses  spoke  of  quiet  valleys.  "With  eager 
longing,  with  sad  resignation,  he  looked  upon  the  promised 
land  that  was  now  the  forbidden  land.  It  was  a  moment  of 
anguish.  He  forgot  all  his  personal  wants,  and  drank  in  the 
vision  of  his  people's  home.  His  work  was  done.  There  lay 
God's  promise  fulfilled.  There  was  the  seat  of  coming  Jeru 
salem — there  the  city  of  Jehovah's  King,  the  sphere  of  judges 
and  prophets,  the  mount  of  sorrow  and  salvation,  the  country 
whence  were  to  fly  blessings  to  all  mankind.  Joy  chased  sad 
ness  from  every  feature,  and  the  prophet  laid  him  down  and 
died.  Again  a  great  leader  of  the  people  has  passed  through 
toil,  sorrow,  battle,  and  war,  and  came  near  to  the  promised 
land  of  peace,  into  which  he  might  not  pass  over.  Who  shall 
recount  our  martyr's  sufferings  for  this  people?  Since  the 
November  of  1860,  his  horizon  has  been  black  with  storms. 
By  day  and  by  night  he  trod  a  way  of  danger  and  darkness. 
On  his  shoulders  rested  a  government,  dearer  to  him  than  his 
own  life.  At  its  life  millions  were  striking  at  home ;  upon  it 
foreign  eyes  were  lowered,  and  it  stood  like  a  lone  island  in  a 
sea  full  of  storms,  and  every  tide  and  wave  seemed  eager  to 
devour  it.  Upon  thousands  of  'hearts  great  sorrows  and 


THE  ASSASSINATION.  649 

anxieties  have  rested,  but  upon  not  one  such,  and  in  such 
measure,  as  upon  that  simple,  truthful,  noble  soul,  our  faithful 
and  sainted  Lincoln.  Never  rising  to  the  enthusiasm  of  more 
impassioned  natures  in  hours  of  hope,  and  never  sinking  with 
the  mercurial  in  hours  of  defeat  to  the  depths  of  despondency, 
he  held  on  with  unmovable  patience  and  fortitude,  putting 
caution  against  hope,  that  it  might  not  be  premature,  and  hope 
against  caution  that  it  might  not  yield  to  dread  and  danger. 
He  wrestled  ceaselessly  through  four  black  and  dreadful  pur 
gatorial  years,  when  God  was  cleansing  the  sins  of  this  people 
as  by  fire.  At  last  the  watchman  beheld  the  gray  dawn.  The 
mountains  began  to  give  forth  their  forms  from  out  of  the 
darkness,  and  the  East  came  rushing  towards  us  with  arms  full 
of  joy  for  all  our  sorrows.  Then  it  was  for  him  to  be  glad 
exceedingly  that  had  sorrowed  immeasurably.  Peace  could 
bring  to  no  other  heart  such  joy,  such  rest,  such  honor,  such 
trust,  such  gratitude.  He  but  looked  upon  it  as  Moses  looked 
upon  the  promised  land.  Then  the  wail  of  a  nation  proclaimed 
that  he  had  gone  from  among  us.  Not  thine  the  sorrow,  bat 
ours. 

"  Sainted  soul,  thou  hast  indeed  entered  the  promised  rest, 
while  we  are  yet  on  the  march.  To  us  remains  the  rocking  of 
the  deep,  the  storm  upon  the  land,  days  of  duty  and  nights  of 
watching ;  but  thou  art  sphered  above  all  darkness  and  fear, 
beyond  all  sorrow  or  weariness.  Best,  0  weary  heart !  Ee- 
joice  exceedingly,  thou  that  hast  enough  suffered.  Thou  hast 
beheld  him  who  invariably  led  thee  in  this  great  wilderness. 
Thou  standest  among  the  elect;  around  thee  are  the  royal 
men  that  have  ennobled  human  life  in  every  age ;  kingly  art 
thou,  with  glory  on  thy  brow  as  a  diadem,  and  joy  is  upon  thee 
for  evermore !  Over  all  this  land,  over  all  the  little  cloud  of 
years  that  now,  from  thine  infinite  horizon,  waver  back  from 
thee  as  a  spark,  thou  art  lifted  up  as  high  as  the  star  is  above 
the  clouds  that  hide  us,  but  never  reach  it.  In  the  goodly 
company  of  Mount  Zion  thou  shalt  find  that  rest  which  so 


650  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

many  have  sought  in  vain,  and  thy  name,  an  everlasting  name 
in  heaven,  shall  flourish  in  fragrance  and  beauty  as  long  as 
men  shall  last  upon  the  earth,  or  hearts  remain  to  revere  truth, 
fidelity,  and  goodness.  Never  did  two  such  orbs  of  experience 
meet  in  the  same  hemisphere  as  the  joy  and  sorrow  of  the  same 
week  in  this  land.  The  joy  was  as  sudden  as  if  no  man  had 
expected  it,  and  as  entrancing  as  if  it  had  fallen  from  heaven. 
It  rose  up  over  sobriety,  and  swept  business  from  its  moorings, 
and  down  through  the  land  in  irresistible  course.  Men  wept 
and  embraced  each  other ;  they  sang  or  prayed,  or  deeper  yet, 
could  only  think  thanksgiving  and  weep  gladness.  That  peace 
was  sure — that  government  was  firmer  than  ever — the  land 
was  cleansed  of  plague — that  ages  were  opening  to  our  foot 
steps,  and  we  were  to  begin  a  march  of  blessings — that  blood 
was  stanched,  and  scowling  enmities  sinking  like  spent  storms 
beneath  the  horizon — that  the  dear  fatherland,  nothing  lost  but 
much  gained,  was  to  rise  up  in  unexampled  honor  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth — these  thoughts,  and  that  undistinguishable 
throng  of  fancies,  and  hopes,  and  desires,  and  yearnings,  that 
filled  the  soul  with  tremblings  like  the  heated  air  of  midsummer 
days — all  these  kindled  up  such  a  surge  of  joy  as  no  words 
may  describe.  In  an  hour,  joy  lay  without  a  pulse,  without  a 
gleam  of  breath.  A  sorrow  came  that  swept  through  the  land, 
as  huge  storms  swept  through  the  forest  and  field,  rolling 
thunder  along  the  skies,  dishevelling  the  flames  and  daunting 
every  singer  in  the  thicket  or  forest,  and  pouring  blackness 
and  darkness  across  the  land  and  up  the  mountains. 

"  Did  ever  so  many  hearts  in  so  brief  a  time  touch  two  such 
boundless  feelings?  It  was  the  uttermost  joy  and  the  utter 
most  of  sorrow — noon  and  midnight  without  space  between. 
The  blow  brought  not  a  sharp  pang.  It  was  so  terrible  that 
at  first  it  stunned  sensibility.  Citizens  were  like  men  awakened 
at  midnight  by  an  earthquake,  and  bewildered  to  find  every 
thing  that  they  were  accustomed  to  trust  wavering  and  falling. 
The  very  earth  was  no  longer  solid.  The  first  feeling  was  the 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  651 

least.  Men  waited  to  get  strength  to  feel.  They  wandered  in 
the  streets  as  if  groping  after  some  impending  dread,  or  unde 
veloped  sorrow.  They  met  each  other  as  if  each  would  ask 
the  other,  'Am  I  awake,  or  do  I  dream  ?'  There  was  a  piteous 
helplessness.  Strong  men  bowed  down  and  wept.  Other  and 
viommon  griefs  belong  to  some  one  in  chief,  they  are  private 
property ;  but  this  was  each  man's  and  every  man's.  Every 
virtuous  household  in  the  land  felt  as  if  its  first-born  were 
gone.  Men  took  it  home.  They  were  bereaved,  and  walked 
for  days  as  if  a  corpse  lay  unburied  in  their  dwellings.  There 
was  nothing  else  to  think  of.  They  could  speak  of  nothing  but 
that,  and  yet  of  that  they  could  speak  only  falteringly.  All 
business  was  laid  aside,  pleasure  forgot  to  smile.  The  city  for 
nearly  a  week  ceased  to  roar,  and  great  Leviathan  laid  down 
and  was  still.  Even  Avarice  stood  still,  and  Greed  was 
strangely  moved  to  generous  sympathy  with  universal  sorrow. 
Eear  to  his  name  monuments,  found  charitable  institutions,  and 
with  his  name  above  their  heights,  but  no  monument  will  ever 
equal  the  universal,  spontaneous,  and  sublime  sorrow  that  in  a 
moment  swept  down  lines  and  parties,  and  covered  up  animosi 
ties,  and  in  an  hour  brought  a  divided  people  with  unity  of 
grief  and  indivisible  fellowship  of  anguish!  For  myself,  I 
cannot  yet  command  that  quietness  of  spirit  needed  for  a  just 
and  temperate  delineation  of  a  man  whom  Goodness  had  made 
great.  I  pass,  then,  to  some  considerations  aside  from  the 
martyr  President's  character,  reserving  that  for  a  future  occa 
sion,  which  are  appropriate  to  this  time  and  place.  And,  first, 
let  us  not  mourn  that  his  departure  was  so  sudden,  nor  fill  our 
imagination  with  horror  at  its  method.  When  good  men  pray 
for  deliverance  from  hidden  death,  it  is  only  that  they  may  not 
be  plunged,  without  preparation  and  all  disrobed,  into  the 
presence  of  the  Judge.  Men  long  eluding  and  evading  sorrow, 
when  suddenly  overtaken,  seem  enchanted  to  make  it  great  to 
the  uttermost — a  habit  which  is  not  Christian,  although  it  is 
doubtless  natural.  When  one  is  ready  to  depart,  suddenness 


652  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

is  a  blessing.  Tt  is  a  painful  sight  to  see  a  tree  overthrown  by 
a  tornado,  wrenched  from  its  foundation  and  broken  down  like 
a  reed ;  but  it  is  yet  more  painful  to  see  a  vast  and  venerable 
tree  lingering  with  vain  strife,  when  age  and  infirmity  have 
marked  it  for  destruction.  The  process  of  decay  is  a  spectacle 
humiliating  and  painful ;  but  it  seems  good  and  grand  for  one 
to  go  from  duty  done  with  pulse  high,  with  strength  full  and 

nerve  strong,  terminating  a  noble  life  in  a  fitting  manner. 
•*  *  -K  *  x  # 

"  Even  he  who  now  sleeps  has,  by  this  event,  been  clothed 
with  new  influence.  Dead,  he  speaks  to  men  who  now  will 
ingly  hear  what  before  they  shut  their  ears  to.  Like  the  words 
of  Washington  will  his  simple,  mighty  words  be  pondered  on 
by  your  children  and  children's  children.  Men  will  receive  a 
new  accession  to  their  love  of  patriotism,  and  will  for  his  sake 
guard  with  more  zeal  the  welfare  of  the  whole  country.  On 
the  altar  of  this  martyred  patriot  I  swear  you  to  be  more  faith 
ful  to  your  country.  They  will,  as  they  follow  his  hearse, 
swear  a  new  hatred  to  that  slavery  which  has  made  him  a 
martyr.  By  this  solemn  spectacle  I  swear  you  to  renewed  hos 
tility  to  slavery,  and  to  a  never-ending  pursuit  of  it  to  its 
grave.  They  will  admire  and  imitate  his  firmness  in  justice, 
his  inflexible  conscience  for  the  right,  his  gentleness  and  mod 
eration  of  spirit,  and  I  swear  you  to  a  faithful  copy  of  his 
justice,  his  mercy,  and  his  gentleness.  You  I  can  comfort,  but 
how  can  I  speak  to  the  twilight  millions  who  revere  his  name 
as  the  name  of  God  ?  Oh,  there  will  be  wailing  for  him  in 
hamlet  and  cottage,  in  woods  and  wilds,  and  the  fields  of  the 
South.  Her  dusky  children  looked  on  him  as  on  a  Moses  come 
to  lead  them  out  from  the  land  of  bondage.  To  whom  can  we 
direct  them  but  to  the  Shepherd  of  Israel,  and  to  his  care 
commit  them  for  help,  for  comfort,  and  protection  ?  And  now 
the  martyr  is  moving  in  triumphal  march,  mightier  than  when 
alive.  The  nation  rises  up  at  his  coming.  Cities  and  States 
are  his  pall-bearers,  and  cannon  beat  the  hours  with  solemn 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  653 

procession.  Dead  !  dead !  dead  !  he  yet  speaketh  !  Is  Wash 
ington  dead?  Is  Hampden  dead?  Is  David  dead?  Now, 
disenthralled  of  flesh,  and  risen  to  the  unobstructed  sphere 
where  passion  never  comes,  he  begins  his  illimitable  work. 
His  life  is  grafted  upon  the  Infinite,  and  will  be  fruitful  now  as 
no  earthly  life  can  be.  Pass  on,  thou  that  hast  overcome ! 
Your  sorrows,  0  people,  are  his  paean  !  Your  bells,  and  bands, 
and  muffled  drum  sound  in  his  ear  a  triumph.  You  wail  and 
weep  here.  God  makes  it  triumph  there.  Four  years  ago,  0 
Illinois,  we  took  him  from  your  midst;  an  untried  man  from 
among  the  people.  Behold,  we  return  him  a  mighty  con 
queror.  Not  thine,  but  the  nation's;  not  ours,  but  the 
world's !  Give  him  place,  ye  prairies !  In  the  midst  of  this 
great  continent,  his  dust  shall  rest  a  sacred  treasure  to  millions 
who  shall  pilgrim  to  that  shrine,  to  kindle  anew  their  zeal  and 
patriotism.  Ye  winds  that  move  over  the  mighty  spaces  of  the 
West,  chant  his  requiem.  Ye  people,  behold  a  martyr  whose 
blood  as  articulate  words  pleads  for  fidelity,  for  law,  for 
liberty." 

In  Europe  the  news  of  the  President's  death  produced 
a  sensation  as  profound  as  it  was  unexpected.  Public 
attention  had  been  already  wound  to  the  highest  point 
of  tension,  by  the  rush  of  events  which  preceded  the 
collapse  of  the  rebellion.  Information  of  Sherman's 
gigantic  and  triumphant  march,  of  the  fall  of  Kichmond, 
of  the  retreat  and  surrender  of  Lee,  of  the  critical 
position  and  paralization  of  Johnston — had  been  received 
by  one  American  steamer  after  another — till  the  public 
were  fairly  breathless  with  astonishment.  And  then, 
like  a  thunder-clap  in  a  clear  sky,  came  the  horrible 
news  that  the  great  leader  of  a  great  nation,  had  been 
struck  down  by  the  cowardly  hand  of  the  assassin,  even 
in  the  culminating  hour  of  his  people's  triumph. 


654  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

The  public  at  large,  the  press,  the  civic  bodies,  the 
House  of  Commons,  nay,  even  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
the  Queen,  all  hastened  to  express  their  grief,  horror, 
and  sympathy. 

The  London  Times  says : 

"  The  intelligence  of  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln 
and  of  the  attempt  to  assassinate  Mr.  Seward,  caused  a  most 
extraordinary  sensation  in  the  city  on  Wednesday.  Towards 
noon  the  news  became  known,  and  it  spread  rapidly  from 
mouth  to  mouth  in  all  directions.  At  first,  many  were  incredu 
lous  as  to  the  truth  of  the  rumor,  and  some  believed  it  to  have 
been  set  afloat  for  purposes  in  connection  with  the  stock  ex 
change.  The  house  of  Peabody  &  Co.,  American  bankers,  in 
Broad  street,  had  received  early  intelligence  of  the  assassina 
tion,  and  from  there  the  news  was  carried  to  the  Bank  of  Eng 
land,  whence  it  quickly  radiated  in  a  thousand  directions. 
Meanwhile  it  was  being  wafted  far  and  wide  by  the  second 
editions  of  the  morning  papers,  and  was  supplemented  later  in 
the  day  by  the  publication  of  additional  particulars.  Shortly 
after  twelve  o'clock  it  was  communicated  to  the  Lord  Mayor 
while  he  was  sitting  in  the  justice-room  of  the  Mansion  House, 
and  about  the  same  time  the  '  star-spangled  banner'  was  hoisted 
half-mast  high  over  the  American  consulate,  at  the  corner  of  Grace- 
church  street.  The  same  flag  had  but  a  few  days  before  floated 
in  triumph  from  the  same  place  on  the  entry  of  the  Federals 
into  Eichmond,  and  still  later  on  the  surrender  of  General  Lee. 
Between  one  and  two  o'clock  the  third  edition  of  the  Times, 
containing  a  circumstantial  narrative  of  the  affair,  made  its 
appearance  in  the  city,  and  became  immediately  in  extraordi 
nary  demand.  A  newsvender  in  the  Royal  Exchange  was  sell 
ing  it  at  half  a-crown  a  copy,  and  by  half  past  three  o'clock  it 
could  not  be  had  for  money.  The  excitement  caused  by  the 
intelligence  was  everywhere  manifest,  and  in  the  streets,  on  the 
rail,  on  the  river,  in  the  law  courts,  the  terrible  event  was  the 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  655 

theme  of  conversation.  Throughout  the  remainder  of  the  day, 
the  evening  papers  were  sold  in  unexampled  numbers,  and 
often  at  double  and  treble  the  ordinary  price,  all  evincing  the 
universal  interest  felt  at  the  astounding  intelligence.  On  the 
receipt  of  the  melancholy  intelligence  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
about  sixty  members  of  all  parties  immediately  assembled,  and 
signed  the  following  address  of  sympathy  to  the  American 
Minister : 

" '  We,  the  undersigned,  members  of  the  British  House  of 
Commons,  have  learnt  with  the  deepest  horror  and  regret,  that 
the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America  has  been  de 
prived  of  life  by  an  act  of  violence,  and  we  desire  to  express 
our  sympathy  on  the  sad  event  with  the  American  minister, 
now  in  London,  as  well  as  to  declare  our  hope  and  confidence 
in  the  future  of  that  great  country,  which  we  trust  will  con 
tinue  to  be  associated  with  enlightened  freedom  and  peaceful 
relations  with  this  and  every  other  country. 
"  '  LONDON,  April  29,  1865.'  " 

On  Saturday  evening,  the  29th  of  April,  an  immense 
public  meeting  convened,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Emancipation  Society,  in  St.  James's  Hall,  to  express 
feelings  of  grief  and  horror  at  the  assassination  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  and  sympathy  with  the  government  and 
people  of  the  United  States,  and  with  Mrs.  Lincoln,  Mr. 
Seward  and  family.  The  galleries  of  the  hall  were 
draped  in  black,  and  over  the  end  of  the  gallery  hung 
the  American  flag.  The  hall  was  crowded  with  an 
audience  who  manifested  not  merely  their  warm  admira 
tion  of  the  character  and  capacity  of  the  late  President, 
and  sincere  sympathy  with  the  people  of  the  United 
States  in  the  loss  sustained,  but  their  hearty  approval 
of  the  great 'cause  Mr.  Lincoln  represented. 

The  platform  contained  an  array  of  Parliamentary 


656  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN". 

gentlemen,  and  many  leading  citizens  of  the  metropolis. 
Many  ladies  were  present,  a  majority  of  whom  were  in 
mourning. 

Various  resolutions  were  carried,  not  merely  with 
unanimity,  but  with  an  intense  feeling  rarely  seen  at 
public  meetings. 

In  Liverpool  the  excitement  was  equally  great. 

"  The  scene  on  the  Exchange/'  says  an  English  paper,  "  was 
such  as  will  not  be  forgotten  for  a  long  time.  At  half  past 
eleven  it  was  announced  that  the  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  Liverpool  Exchange  News  Booms  was  in  possession  of  the 
news.  A  terrible  rush  took  place  from  the  '  flags'  into  the  news 
room  ;  and  after  a  few  minutes  it  was  announced  that  the  sec 
retary  would  read  aloud  the  despatch  from  the  bar  of  the  news 
room.  All  was  now  silent.  The  passage  wherein  it  was  stated 
that  President  Lincoln  had  been  shot  at,  caused  no  great  dis 
may ;  but  when  the  master  of  the  rooms  read,  'The  President 
never  rallied,  and  died  this  morning/  there  was  a  general  ex 
pression  of  horror.  Certainly  there  was  one  dissentient  voice, 
which  had  the  temerity  to  exclaim  '  Hurrah  !'  His  presence  in 
the  news  room  was  of  short  duration,  for,  being  seized  by  the 
collar  by  as  good  a  southerner  as  there  is  in  Liverpool,  he  was 
summarily  ejected  from  the  room,  the  gentleman  who  first 
seized  him  exclaiming,  '  Be  off)  you  incarnate  fiend !  you  are 
an  assassin  at  heart.'  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  the  flags 
on  the  American  consul's  house  and  the  Exchange  buildings 
were  placed  at  half-mast ;  and  a  deputation,  irrespective  of 
American  party  feelings,  proceeded  to  the  Town  Hall,  in  order 
to  consult  with  the  Mayor  as  to  the  desirability  of  holding  a 
public  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  sending  out  an  address  of 
condolence  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The  Mayor 
being  absent,  no  definite  arrangement  was  arrived  at,  but  the 
Deputy  Mayor  gave  orders  that  the  Town  Hall  flag  should  be 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  557 

at  once  hoisted  half-mast.  The  American  ships,  in  the  river 
and  in  the  docks,  as  soon  as  the  news  was  known,  hoisted  'half- 
n.gh  flags,  and  m  many  instances  the  union  jack  and  the  stars 
and  stripes  were  bound  together  with  crape  or  black  cloth 
The  President  of  the  Southern  Club  convened  a  meetin^  of  all 
the  members,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether  it  was 
esirable  to  take  any  official  action  upon  the  event.  The  mem 
bers  of  the  club  were  unanimous  in  their  expression  of  abhor 
rence  and  reprobation  of  the  foul  deed." 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  27th,  a  meeting  of  the  mer 
chants  was  held  at  St.  George's  Hall,  at  which  the 
Major  presided,  and  several  leading  merchants  made 
speeches  denouncing  the  crime  and  expressing  sympathy 
with  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  strong  terms. 
A  resolution,  expressing  sorrow  and  indignation,  regard 
less  of  all  differences  of  opinion  politically,  was  unani 
mously  adopted,  and  ordered  to  be  sent  to  the  American 
minister  at  London,  to  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  to  Mr.  Seward. 
On  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  and  at  the  same 
place,  there  was  another  great  meeting  of  the  working 
classes,  at  which  similar  resolutions  were  adopted. 

In  the  House  of  Lords,  May  1st,  Earl  Eussell  con 
cluded  by  moving  an  humble  address  to  her  Majesty  to 
express  the  sorrow  and  indignation  of  this  House  at  the 
assassination  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
to  pray  her  Majesty  to  communicate  these  sentiments  on 
the  part  of  this  House  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States ;  and  Earl  Derby  also  made  a  feeling  speech. 

The  Queen,  also,  sent  to  Mrs.  Lincoln  an  autograph 
letter  of  condolence. 

In  Paris  on  the  very  day  the  terrible  news  was  received 
M.  Drouyn  de  L'huys,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  de- 


42 


658  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

spatched  a  letter  to  Mr.  Bigelow  expressive  of  his  sor 
row,  and  immediately  upon  the  return  of  our  minister 
from  Brest  (whither  he  had  gone  to  participate  in  the 
ceremony  of  the  opening  of  a  new  line  of  railway),  he 
was  waited  upon  by  an  aid-de-camp  of  the  Emperor,  who 
expressed  to  him  the  personal  regret  of  his  Majesty  at 
the  severe  loss  to  the  nation  and  his  horror  of  the  crime. 
On  Mr.  Bigelow' s  return  he  was  overwhelmed  with  let 
ters  of  condolence  from  all  parts  of  Europe,  and  received 
calls  from  several  members  of  the  opposition  in  the 
Corps  Legislatif,  as  well  as  from  a  considerable  number 
of  literary  men  and  others  who  have  always  sympa 
thized  with  our  cause.  A  large  number  also  called  at 
the  Consulate,  and,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  here, 
subscribed  their  names  in  token  of  condolence. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  and  noteworthy  demon 
strations  was  that  made  by  the  Jeunesse  d'Ecoles — the 
students  of  the  Latin  quarter.  Nearly  a  thousand  of 
these  young  men  formed  in  procession  for  the  purpose 
of  proceeding  to  the  American  minister's  to  present  to 
him  an  appropriate  address. 

Solemn  services  were  also  held  at  the  American  Epis 
copal  chapel,  which  were  attended  by  a  large  assem 
blage  of  French  and  Americans. 

The  Princess  Murat,  who  is  an  American  lady,  was 
present,  as  were  also  General  Franconniere  and  the 
Prince  Napoleon,  M.  Berryer,  Jules  Favre,  Ernest  Picard, 
Eugene  Pelletan,  Prevost  Paradol,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  literary  men. 

Henry  Martin,  the  historian,  wrote  in  one  of  the 
Parisian  journals,  a  brilliant  eulogium  on  Mr.  Lincoln, 
whom  he  styled  "the  great  martyr  of  democracy." 


THE  ASSASSINATION.  659 

In  the  Corps  Legislatif,  soon  after  the  opening  of 
that  body,  the  Minister  of  State  communicated  to  that 
body  the  following  despatch  sent  by  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  to  their  representative  at  Washington, 
as  follows: 

"MINISTRY  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS, 
PARIS,  April  28,  1865. 

"  The  news  'of  the  crime  of  which  President  Lincoln  has 
fallen  a  victim  has  caused  a  profound  sentiment  of  indignation 
in  the  imperial  government.  His  Majesty  immediately  charged 
one  of  his  aides-de-camp  to  call  upon  the  minister  of  the  United 
States  to  request  him  to  transmit  the  expression  of  this  senti 
ment  to  Mr.  Johnson,  now  invested  with  the  Presidency.  I, 
myself,  desired  by  the  despatch  which  I  addressed  you,  under 
date  of  j^esterday,  to  acquaint  you,  without  delay,  of  the  painful 
emotion  which  we  have  experienced  ;  and  it  becomes  my  duty 
to-day,  in  conformity  with  the  views  of  the  Emperor,  to  render 
a  merited  homage  to  the  great  citizen  whose  loss  the  United 
States  now  deplore. 

"  Elevated  to  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  republic  by  the 
suffrage  of  his  country,  Abraham  Lincoln  exhibited  in  the 
exercise  of  the  power  placed  in  his  hands  the  most  substantial 
qualities.  In  him  firmness  of  character  was  allied  with  eleva 
tion  of  principle,  and  his  vigorous  soul  never  wavered  before 
the  redoubtable  trials  reserved  for  his  government.  At  the 
moment  when  an  atrocious  crime  removed  him  from  the  mission 
which  he  fulfilled  with  a  religious  sentiment  of  duty,  he  was 
convinced  that  the  triumph  of  his  policy  was  definitely  assured. 
His  recent  proclamations  are  stamped  with  the  sentiments  of 
moderation  with  which  he  was  inspired  in  resolutely  proceeding 
to  the  task  of  reorganizing  the  Union  and  consolidating  peace. 
The  supreme  satisfaction  of  accomplishing  this  work  has  not 
been  accorded  him  ;  but  in  reviewing  these  last  testimonies  to 
his  exalted  wisdom,  as  well  as  the  examples  of  good  sense,  of 
courage,  and  of  patriotism,  which  he  has  given,  history  will  not 


660  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

hesitate  to  place  him  in  the  rank  of  citizens  who  have  the  most 
honored  their  country.  By  order  of  the  Emperor,  I  transmit 
this  despatch  to  the  Minister  of  State,  who  is  charged  to  com 
municate  it  to  the  Senate  and  the  Corps  Legislatif.  France  will 
unanimously  associate  itself  with  the  sentiment  of  his  Majesty. 

"Keceive,  &c.,  &c.,  DROUYN  DE  LHUYS, 

"  M.  DE  GEOFRY,  Charge  d"  Affaires  de  France  d  Washington.'11 

This  was  followed  by  eloquent  remarks  by  several 
distinguished  members. 

In  Italy,  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  at  Rome,  was 
draped  in  black  on  the  twenty-seventh,  and  continued 
so  for  the  three  following  days,  in  mourning  for  Abraham 
Lincoln.  The  Minister  of  Finance  moved,  and  the 
Chamber  agreed,  to  send  the  following  address  to  the 
American  Congress,  expressing  the  grief  of  the  country 
and  the  House  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassination. 

"To  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  CONGRESS  OF  KEPRESENTA- 
TIVES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA: — Honorable  Sir: 
The  intelligence  of  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln  has 
moved  and  profoundly  grieved  the  deputies  of  the  Italian 
Parliament.  From  all  the  political  factions  of  which  this 
Chamber  is  composed  one  unanimous  cry  has  arisen  denouncing 
the  detestable  crime  that  has  been  committed,  and  conveying 
the  expression  of  deep  regret  and  sympathy  for  the  illus 
trious  victim  and  the  free  people  whose  worthy  ruler  he  was. 
This  Chamber  has  unanimously  resolved  to  cover  its  flag  with 
crape  for  the  space  of  three  days,  in  token  of  mourning,  and 
has  charged  me  to  notify  you  in  a  special  message  its  grief, 
which  is  also  that  of  Italy,  and  of  all  friends  of  liberty  and 
civilization.  The  news  of  the  attempt  made  to  assassinate  Mr. 
Seward  has  inspired  the  Chamber  with  like  sentiments.  In 
readily,  though  sadly,  fulfilling  the  mission  with  which  I  have 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  CGI 

ju   a;i, 

been  charged,  I  beg  you  will  accept,  Honorable  Sir,  the  assur 
ance  of  my  sympathy  and  consideration.  CASSINIS, 

"President  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.'11 

The  King  of  Belgium  charged  one  of  his  aides-de 
camp  to  visit  Mr.  Sanford,  and  express  the  feelings  his 
Majesty  experienced  at  the  attacks  made  upon  the 
President  and  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  United 
States.  The  Count  of  Flanders  also  sent  one  of  his 
orderly  officers  to  the  American  minister  for  the  same 
purpose.  The  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  and  the 
other  members  of  the  Cabinet  also  lost  no  time  in  pay 
ing  their  respects  to  Mr.  San  ford,  and  instructions  were 
forwarded  to  the  Belgian  Legation  at  Washington 
to  express  to  the  American  government  the  sentiments 
of  regret  and  reprobation  excited  by  such  disgraceful 
acts.  At  Saturday's  sitting  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
M.  le  Hardy  de  Beaulieu  stated,  in  the  most  sympathiz 
ing  terms,  the  emotion  produced  in  Belgium  by  the 
news  of  the  tragic  event,  and  recalled  all  the  claims  of 
President  Lincoln  to  general  consideration.  M.  de 
Haerne  spoke  in  the  same  sense  with  much  feeling. 
The  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  said  that  the  govern 
ment  fully  agreed  with  the  sentiments  which  had  just 
been  expressed,  and  that  it  had  already  conveyed  its 
opinion  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  and 
their  representatives  at  Brussels.  He  added  his  sincerest 
good  wishes  for  the  recovery  of  Mr.  Seward,  whose  life 
he  considered  highly  important  for  the  definitive  pacifi 
cation  of  the  country  so  long  desolated  by  the  war,  and 
whose  prosperity  was  earnestly  desired  by  all  the  friends 
of  liberty. 

In  Prussia  the  news  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was 


662  THE   LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

received  with  the  deepest  concern.  Herr  Loewe,  one  of 
the  most  active  and  influential  members  of  the  Lower 
House,  rose  at  the  first  sitting  to  devote  a  few  solemn 
and  admiring  words  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased 
republican  statesman,  and  to  introduce  an  address  of 
condolence,  which  he  had  drawn  up  for  presentation 
to  Mr.  Judd,  the  American  minister  to  that  country. 
He  concluded  by  saying: 

"Gentlemen,"  permit  me  to  request  your  attention  to  a 
subject  which,  though  not  coming  within  the  limits  of  our 
immediate  task,  is  yet  one  of  the  gravest  interest  to  us,  and, 
indeed,  the  world  at  large.  Many  of  the  honorable  members 
have  felt  it  a  duty,  on  the  occasion  of  the  untimely  death  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  to  give  expression  to  their  sincere  sympathy 
with  the  nation  who  now  mourn  his  loss.  Abraham  Lincoln 
has  been  taken  away  in  the  hour  of  triumph.  I  trust  that 
the  task  he  so  faithfully  conducted  in  the  service  of  a  great 
and  glorious  people  will  be  completed  by  his  successor ;  and 
while  I  cannot  but  congratulate  myself  on  the  earnest  and 
most  effective  support  he  received  from  so  many  of  our  coun 
trymen  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean,  I  wish  to  assure  the 
German  Americans,  as  well  as  the  Americans  generally,  that 
we  glory  in  their  glories  and  sorrow  in  their  sorrows.  * 

"As  it  might  be  contrary  to  rules  to  move  for  the  House 
entering  into  communication  with  a  foreign  diplomatist,  T 
invite  such  of  you  as  are  disposed  to  share  in  our  condo 
lences  to  send  in  your  signatures  privately,  and  pay  your 
respect  to  the  deceased,  who  was  a  faithful  servant  no  less 
of  his  commonwealth  than  of  civilization,  of  freedom  and 
humanity." 

At  the  close  of  the  speech  the  House  rose  in  token  of 
respectful  assent.  The  conservatives  alone  and  a  few 
ultramontanes,  who,  from  political  motives,  kept  their 


THE   ASSASSINATION.  663 

seats,  also  declared,  through  the  mouths  of  some  of  their 
leaders,  that  they  shared  the  horror  and  indignation  of 
the  other  parties. 

In  Berlin,  a  solemn  service  was  held  May  2d,  in  the 
honor  of  President  Lincoln,  at  the  Dorothea  church  ;  at 
which  numerous  deputations  were  present,  and  the  King 
was  officially  represented  by  his  aides-de-camp.  The 
edifice  was  crowded. 


664  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES. 

The  Body  of  Mr.  Lincoln  lies  in  State  in  the  White  House.— It  rests  in 
the  National  Capitol. — Mourning  throughout  the  land. — The  Funeral 
Cortege  commences  its  route  to  Springfield,  111. — Scenes  by  the  way. — 
At  Baltimore. — At  Philadelphia. — At  Newark  and  Jersey  City. — It 
reaches  New  York. — The  Farewell  Procession. — To  Albany. — From 
there  to  Buffalo. — At  Cleveland. — At  Columbus. — At  Chicago. — It 
reaches  Springfield,  111. — The  final  rites  and  sepulture. — The  Assassin 
and  his  end. — The  fate  of  the  other  conspirators. — Punch's  Tribute  to 
Lincoln's  Memory. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  body  having  been  properly  embalmed 
and  prepared  for  the  grave,  was  laid  in  state  in  the 
"  Green  Koom"  of  the  Presidential  mansion — in  a  splen 
did  coffin,  and  within  a  grand  catafalque.  Here,  sur 
rounded  by  the  sad  emblems  of  woe,  and  covered  with 
the  costliest  and  rarest  floral  tributes  of  affection,  it 
rested  until  noon  of  Wednesday,  the  19th  of  April. 
Then,  after  appropriate  funeral  rites,  it  was  removed, 
with  an  imposing  military  procession,  and  attended  by 
an  immense  concourse  of  people,  to  the  rotunda  of  the 
national  Capitol. 

The  corpse  of  the  President  was  placed  beneath  a 
splendid  catafalque,  and  left  in  state,  watched  by  guards 
of  officers  with  drawn  swords.  And  so  through  the  starry 
night,  in  the  fane  of  the  great  Union  he  had  strengthened 
and  recovered,  the  ashes  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  zealously 
guarded,  lay  in  calm  repose. 

Wednesday,  the  day  on  which  these  obsequies  took 


THE   FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  665 

place  at  Washington,  was,  in  accordance  with  the  request 
of  the  Department  of  State,  observed  as  a  day  of  mourn 
ing  by  the  whole  American  people.  Public  authorities 
and  the  heads  of  religious  denominations,  moved  as  by 
a  common  impulse,  called  upon  the  nation  to  unite  in 
prayer  in  their  several  places  of  worship;  while  at  the 
Capitol  of  the  nation  the  last  solemn  rites  were  offered 
in  the  home  of  the  lost  ruler  ere  he  was  borne  from  the 
residence  of  American  Presidents  to  the  Capitol,  where 
he  was  to  lie  in  state  till  his  corpse  began  its  march  of 
hundreds  of  miles,  before  it  reached  the  city  of  the  West 
identified  writh  his  earlier  career. 

Throughout  the  loyal  States  a  universal  suspension  of 
ordinary  avocations  and  a  closing  of  places  of  business, 
testified  the  popular  respect  to  the  departed.  Every 
city,  town,  and  village  was  hung  in  black,  while  the 
solemn  tolling  of  the  bells  and  the  booming  of  the 
minute-guns  added  to  the  general  solemnity.  Stores 
and  offices  were  closed ;  the  noise  of  traffic  and  amuse 
ment  hushed;  a  Sabbath  repose  rested  on  the  land. 
Churches  were  crowded  with  worshippers,  and  the  clergy 
in  fitting  discourses  paid  their  homage  to  departed  great 
ness,  their  testimony  of  affection  to  a  bereaved  country, 
their  words  of  sympathy  to  her  who  felt  more  keenly 
even  than  the  nation  her  sudden  loss. 

Never  before  was  such  a  general  sadness ;  never  again, 
we  trust,  will  there  be  such  a  cause.  It  was  no  lip 
service ;  the  grief  was  deep  and  heartfelt.  The  people 
were  bereaved,  and  they  knew  it. 

In  Montreal,  C.  E.,  the  Mayor  by  proclamation  in 
vited  the  citizens  to  close  their  places  of  business,  "  as  a 
tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  late  President  of 


666  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  United  States,  and  of  sympathy  with  the  bereaved 
members  of  his  family,  and  also  as  an  expression  of  the 
deep  sorrow  and  horror  felt  by  the  citizens  of  Montreal 
at  the  atrocious  crime  by  which  the  President  came  to 
an  untimely  end,"  and  a  large  public  meeting  was  held, 
in  which  addresses  were  delivered  in  French  and  Eng 
lish. 

At  Quebec,  also,  a  similar  proclamation  was  issued  by 
the  Mayor,  was  promptly  and  completely  responded  to. 
Toronto,  Prescott,  and  other  Canadian  towns,  also  testi 
fied  their  sympathy  with  the  neighboring  republic. 

San  Francisco  honored  the  day  by  the  grandest  pro 
cession  ever  witnessed  on  the  Paciiic  coast ;  and  'in  the 
South,  even,  similar  marks  of  respect  were  paid.  In 
Memphis,  a  solemn  military  and  civic  procession,  num 
bering  twenty  thousand  persons,  formed  an  imposing 
part  of  the  ceremony,  and  an  impromptu  meeting  was 
held,  at  which  eloquent  addresses  were  delivered  by 
Generals  Banks  and  Washburn. 

The  procession  at  Nashville  numbered  upwards  of 
fifteen  thousand  persons,  among  them  Generals  Thomas, 
Rousseau,  Miller,  Whipple,  Fowler,  and  Donelson.  Over 
ten  thousand  troops  joined  in  the  procession;  besides 
Governor  Brownlow,  both  Houses  of  the  Legislature,  the 
Quartermaster  and  Commissary  Departments,  and  Fire 
Department,  and  other  organizations. 

At  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  on  receipt  of  the  news,  the 
Legislature  adjourned,  and  an  impressive  address  was 
delivered  by  Senator  Snow. 

At  Detroit,  on  the  25th  of  April,  the  obsequies  of  Pre 
sident  Lincoln  were  observed  with  imposing  ceremonies, 
and  a  procession,  more  than  four  miles  in  length,  in 


THE   FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  667 

which  even  the  officers  of  the  British  army,  and  the 
Canadian  civil  officers  participated.  The  ceremonies 
concluded  with  an  oration  by  Senator  Howard. 

New  Orleans  received  the  tidings  a  little  later,  and 
the  city  was  at  once  arrayed  in  mourning.  A  procession 
was  held  on  the  22d,  composed  of  the  Fire  Department, 
societies  and  citizens  ;  and  an  immense  mass  of  people. 
Addresses  were  also  delivered  by  Generals  Banks  and 
Hurlbut. 

On  the  20th,  the  body  of  the  murdered  President  lay 
in  state  in  the  Capitol,  where  it  was  visited  by  more  than 
twenty-five  thousand  persons,  among  whom  were  thou 
sands  of  soldiers,  many  coming  from  the  hospitals  to 
gaze  once  more  upon  their  commander-in-chief.  At  six 
o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  the  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  Lieuten ant-General  Grant  and  staff,  several 
Senators,  the  Illinois  delegation,  and  a  number  of  army 
officers,  arrived  at  the  Capitol,  and  took  their  farewell 
look  at  the  face  of  the  deceased.  Then,  after  an  impres 
sive  prayer  by  Eev.  Dr.  Gurley,  the  remains  were  borne, 
without  music,  but  accompanied  by  an  escort,  to  the 
railroad  station,  and  placed  in  the  hearse  car,  to  which 
the  remains  of  his  son  Willie  had  been  previously 
removed.  After  a  prayer  and  benediction,  the  train 
slowly  moved  from  the  depot,  the  engine-bell  tolling,  the 
immense  assemblage  reverently  uncovering  their  heads 
— and  thus  Abraham  Lincoln  passed  away  from  Wash 
ington,  the  scene  of  his  life's-work  and  his  glory. 

The  funeral  cortege  was  conveyed  on  a  special  through 
train,  on  the  same  route  (with  one  or  two  exceptions)  as 
that  taken  by  Mr.  Lincoln  on  his  way  to  Washington, 
in  1861.  The  car,  also,  which  bore  the  body  and  its 


668  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

attendants,  was  the  same  which  had  been  especially  con 
structed  for  the  late  President's  especial  use  when  travel 
ling  over  the  military  roads — a  superb  piece  of  construc 
tion,  and  now  appropriately  draped,  as  were  also  the 
other  six  cars  forming  the  train. 

To  prevent  accidents,  the  rate  of  speed  was  limited. 
No  stoppage  was  made  between  Washington  and  Balti 
more.  In  out-of-the-way  places,  little  villages,  or  single 
farm-houses,  people  came  out  to  the  side  of  the  track  and 
watched,  with  heads  reverently  uncovered  and  faces  full 
of  genuine  sadness,  the  passage  of  the  car  bearing  the 
ashes  of  him  who  loved  the  people  and  whom  the  people 
loved.  Along  the  whole  line  were  seen  these  mourning 
groups,  some  on  foot  and  some  in  carriages,  wearing 
badges  of  sorrow,  and  many  evidently  having  come  a 
long  distance  to  pay  this  little  tribute  of  respect,  the 
only  one  in  their  power,  to  the  memory  of  the  murdered 
President. 

Baltimore,  through  which  city,  four  years  before,  the 
late  President  had  hurried  incognito,  on  his  inaugural 
trip,  now  received  the  honored  remains  of  the  chief 
magistrate  with  every  mark  of  reverence.  Escorted  by 
a  splendid  procession,  the  body  was  conveyed  to  the 
rotunda  of  the  Exchange,  where  upon  a  gorgeous  cata 
falque,  and  surrounded  by  flowers,  it  rested  for  several 
hours,  receiving  the  silent  homage  of  thousands  who 
crowded  to  take  their  last  look  at  the  features  of  the 
illustrious  patriot. 

As  the  cars  passed  along  their  route,  entire  neighbor 
hoods,  old  and  young,  men  and  women  with  infants  in 
their  arms,  and  youths,  turned  out  by  the  roadside  and 
earnestly  watched  the  funeral  train.  Flags  at  half-mast, 


THE  FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  669 

mourning  inscriptions,  funeral  arches,  testified  the  sor 
row  that  was  felt  in  every  bosom.  Some  of  the  most 
notable  and  affecting  scenes  were  of  exceedingly  plain 
and  poorly  dressed  men  and  women,  at  different  places 
on  the  route,  with  handkerchiefs  at  their  eyes,  and 
having  the  appearance  of  weeping.  Clusters  of  men,  at 
various  points,  raised  their  hats  as  the  funeral  car  glided 
before  them,  and  the  deepest  sorrow  was  expressed  in 
every  countenance. 

At  York,  Pa.,  at  the  request  of  the  ladies  of  that  town, 
a  beautiful  wreath  was  placed  with  due  solemnity  upon 
the  coffin,  while  a  dirge  was  performed  by  the  band, 
amid  the  tolling  of  bells,  and  the  uncovered  heads  of 
the  multitude. 

At  Harrisburg,  owing  to  the  heavy  rain,  the  intended 
military  and  civic  display  was  dispensed  with.  Throngs 
of  people,  however,  lined  the  streets  and  followed  the 
remains  to  the  State  Capitol,  where  the  body  lay  in  state, 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  upon  a  fine  catafalque, 
surrounded  with  a  circle  of  white  flowering  almonds ; 
and  during  a  part  of  the  night  the  citizens  were  allowed 
to  obtain  a  view  of  the  President's  features. 

From  Baltimore  to  Philadelphia,  it  may  be  said  that 
the  entire  route  was  amid  crowds  of  sorrowing  people, 
for  between  villages  and  towns,  all  the  way,  farmers  and 
their  families  assembled  in  fields  and  about  houses,  seri 
ously  and  reverently  gazing  at  the  fleeting  funeral 
cortege. 

At  Philadelphia,  where  they  were  received  by  a  great 
procession,  the  ashes  of  the  martyr  found  a  resting-place 
in  Independence  Hall,  around  which  cluster  so  many 
historical  memories,  and  over  which,  four  years  ago,  the 


670  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

then  President-elect  hoisted  the  American  flag,  with  a 
declaration  of  his  willingness  to  sacrifice  his  life  rather 
than  abandon  the  cause  which  he  has  at  length  fallen  in 
defending.  The  bier  was  close  to  the  famous  old  liberty 
bell  which  first  sounded  forth  in  1776  the  tidings  of  in 
dependence. 

The  interior  of  the  hall,  as  well  as  exterior,  was  heavily 
draped  and  most  artistically  illuminated.  Around  the 
remains  were  appropriate  decorations,  leaves  of  exquisite 
evergreens  and  flowers  of  an  exquisite  crimson  bloom. 
At  the  head  of  the  corpse  were  bouquets,  wrhile  flaming 
tapers  were  at  the  feet ;  and  from  the  elaborately  hung 
walls  the  portraits  of  the  great  and  good  dead,  eloquent 
in  their  silence,  looked  down  upon  the  sad  scene. 

The  next  morning,  waiting  thousands  were  admitted 
to  see  the  corpse.  Before  daylight  lines  were  formed 
east  and  west  of  Independence  Hall,  and  by  ten  o'clock 
these  lines  extended  at  least  three  miles,  from  the  Dela 
ware  to  the  Schuylkill  river,  thousands  occupying  three 
or  four  hours  before  accomplishing  their  object — seeing 
the  remains. 

The  funeral  train  left  Philadelphia  at  4  A.  M.,  on  the 
24th  of  April,  1865.  The  incidents  of  the  journey  were 
similar  to  those  seen  elsewhere.  Sometimes  the  track 
was  lined  on  both  sides  for  miles  with  a  continuous 
array  of  people.  The  most  impressive  scene  of  the  whole 
route  thus  far  was  furnished  by  the  city  of  Newark, 
where  it  seemed  as  if  the  inhabitants  had  resolved  to 
turn  out  en  masse  to  pay  their  brief  tribute  of  respect  to 
the  memory  of  the  departed  as  his  coffin  passed  by. 
For  a  distance  of  a  mile,  the  observer  on  the  train  could 


THE  FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  671 

perceive  only  one  sea  of  human  beings.  Words  can  do 
no  justice  to  the  spectacle. 

Of  a  grander  character  was  the  reception  given  to  the 
remains  at  Jersey  City.  The  depot,  one  of  the  largest 
halls  in  the  country,  was  draped  in  an  imposing  manner, 
bells  tolled,  cannon  echoed  solemnly,  and  as  the  remains 
were  removed  from  the  cars  to  the  boat,  a  choir  of  singers 
chanted  a  solemn  dirge.  Again,  as  the  ferry  boat  neared 
the  New  York  side,  solemn  strains  of  funeral  music 
pealed  from  their  united  voices,  and  mingled  with  the 
sound  of  cannon  and  tolling  bells. 

In  the  metropolis  of  New  York  the  scene  was  im 
posing  beyond  comparison.  As  far  as  the  eye  could 
see,  a  dense  mass  of  heads  filled  the  streets,  and  pro 
truded  from  every  window.  The  fronts  of  the  houses 
were  tastefully  draped  with  mourning,  and  the  national 
ensign  was  displayed  at  half-mast  from  almost  every 
housetop. 

The  remains  were  received  by  an  immense  procession, 
which  passed  along  its  route,  amid  such  a  crowd  of  sor 
rowing  faces  as  New  York  never  saw  before ;  while  from 
distant  batteries  the  cannon  belched  each  minute  their 
thunder-tones  of  woe,  from  all  the  steeples  came  forth 
the  wailing  of  bells,  and  from  old  Trinity's  lofty  spire 
floated  upon  the  breeze  the  tuneful  chimings  of  "Old 
Hundred."  Arrived  at  the  City  Hall,  the  coffin  was 
borne  into  the  rotunda,  amid  the  solemn  chantings  of 
eight  hundred  choristers,  and  placed  upon  the  catafalque 
prepared  for  it.  Here,  amid  gorgeous  emblems  of  woe, 
military  display,  and  floral  emblems  of  affection,  the 
dead  President  rested,  while,  during  the  day  and  all 
night  long  the  tide  of  people  passed  hurriedly  but  rever- 


672  THE   LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ently  by,  taking  a  hasty  glance  at  those  ghastly  and 
upturned  features.  At  the  solemn  hour  of  midnight,  the 
German  musical  societies  performed  a  funeral  chant  in 
the  rotunda  of  the  hall,  with  an  effect  which  was  har 
moniously  grand  and  sublime.  On  the  25th  of  April, 
the  great  metropolis  took  its  final  leave  of  the  remains 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  after  a  farewell  more  grand 
and  imposing  than  any  demonstration  in  the  previous 
experience  of  this  country,  the  sacred  ashes  started  on 
their  journey  westward.* 

At  the  same  time,  a  vast  concourse  assembled  in 
Union  Square,  where  an  elegant  oration  was  delivered 
by  the  eminent  historian,  the  Hon.  George  Bancroft, 
and  an  ode,  composed  by  William  Cullen  Bryant,  was 
recited. 

From  New  York  the  same  scenes  of  popular  grief  and 
the  deepest  respect  were  witnessed.  Arches,  columns, 
monuments,  banners,  etc.,  arrayed  with  tasteful  and 
loving  care,  lined  the  entire  route  of  the  funeral  train, 

*  The  military  pageant  was  grand.  The  city  regiments  in  the  parade, 
with  their  batteries  and  officers,  made  a  force  of  at  least  ten  thousand  men. 
Those  from  Brooklyn  and  the  regulars  were  nearly  half  that  number,  the 
whole  in  line  of  formation,  or  double  line,  extending  a  distance  in  all  of 
four  miles  and  a  half.  The  procession  was  closed  by  the  colored  popula 
tion  of  New  York,  who,  though  deprived  of  an  invitation  to  join  the  grand 
pageant,  nevertheless,  when  informed  of  the  action  taken  by  the  military 
authorities,  were  only  too  glad  to  pay  the  last  sad  tributes  of  respect  to 
their  great  benefactor.  They  numbered  at  least  two  thousand  persons, 
and  were  preceded  by  a  banner  bearing  the  following  inscription 
"ABBAHAM  LINCOLN,  OUB  EMANCIPATOB." 

On  the  reverse  side  of  which  were  the  following  words  : 

"TO    MILLIONS    OF    BONDMEN    HE    LIBEBTY    GAVE." 

All  along  the  route,  and  particularly  in  the  Fifth  Avenue,  and  in  Union 
Square,  the  colored  people  joining  in  the  procession,  were  vehemently  ap 
plauded  by  the  crowded  assemblages. 


THE   FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  673 

as  it  sped  its  way  among  crowds  of  heart-stricken  men 
*  and  women,  heralded  on  its  onward  course  by  the  tolling 
of  bells,  and  the  echoes  of  minute  guns.  At  Albany, 
the  corpse  was  escorted  across  the  river  by  a  torch-light 
procession  of  military  and  firemen,  and  placed  in  the 
Capitol  of  the  State,  where  it  rested  until  2  p.  M.  of  the 
next  day — visited  by  thousands.  Accompanied  by  a 
grand  procession,  it  was  then  escorted  to  the  train  of 
newly  finished,  and  tastefully  draped  cars,  furnished  by 
the  New  York  Central  Eailroad  Company,  and  com 
menced  its  sad  journey  through  the  Empire  State. 

Notwithstanding  the  greater  part  of  the  trip  between 
Albany  and  Buffalo  was  made  at  night,  all  along  the 
line  mournful  crowds  were  collected  to  catch  a  view  of 
the  passing  cortege.  The  buildings  were  appropriately 
draped,  flags  were  half-masted,  and  bonfires  and  torches 
illumined  the  sad  pageant.  All  through  the  dark  hours, 
as  the  train  sped  on,  at  each  city,  town,  village,  and 
station,  these  testimonies  of  the  people's  affection  and 
grief  were  repeated. 

At  Buffalo  and  Cleveland,  the  body  was  appropriately 
received  amid  every  possible  demonstration  of  grief  and 
respect.  At  Columbus,  Ohio,  the  remains  were  placed 
in  the  rotunda  of  the  State  Capitol,  which  was  appro 
priately  draped.  The  coffin  rested  upon  a  mound  of 
moss,  thickly  dotted  with  the  choicest  flowers,  and  was 
surrounded  by  elegant  vases  of  rare  flowers.  The  walls 
were  adorned  with  Powell's  great  painting  of  "  Perry's 
Victory;"  and  with  various  banners  which  had  been 
carried  by  the  Ohio  troops  during  the  war,  torn  and 
riddled  by  bullets  in  many  a  deadly  conflict.  Bands  of 
music  played  during  the  afternoon,  on  the  terraces  of 
43 


674  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  Capitol,  most  solemn  dirges,  and  guns  were  fired  at 
intervals  during  the  day. 

Indianapolis  also  gave  a  worthy  reception  to  the  de 
parted  chief.  At  Chicago  the  remains  of  the  President 
were  received  under  a  magnificent  funeral  arch,  and  were 
thence  conveyed  to  the  rotunda  of  the  court  house,  where 
they  were  laid  in  state  upon  a  catafalque  as  beautiful  as 
any  we  have  hitherto  described,  and  visited  by  thousands 
of  persons,  who  thus,  in  sadness,  welcomed  back  their 
late  beloved  ruler  to  his  native  State.  The  number  of 
people  in  the  city,  at  the  time,  was  estimated  to  have 
been  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  At 
night  the  coffin,  strewn  with  fresh  flowers  placed  by 
virgin  hands,  with  chant  and  torch-light,  was  borne  to 
the  depot. 

Taking  all  in  all,  Chicago  made  a  deeper  impression 
upon  those  who  had  been  with  the  funeral  from  the  first 
than  any  one  of  the  ten  cities  passed  through  before  had 
done.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  such  would  be  the  case, 
yet,  seeing  how  other  cities  had  honored  the  fdneral,  there 
seemed  to  be  no  room  for  more,  and  the  eastern  members 
of  the  cortege  could  not  repress  surprise  when  they  saw 
how  Chicago  and  the  Northwest  came,  with  one  accord, 
with  tears  and  with  offerings,  to  help  to  bury  "this 
Duncan,"  who  had  "  been  so  clear  in  his  great  office. ' 

At  last,  on  the  3d  of  May,  the  funeral  train,  after 
travelling,  by  a  circuitous  route,  about  seventeen  hun 
dred  miles,  reached  Springfield,  the  home  of  the  fallen 
President,  where  he  had  been  so  long  personally  known 
and  admired.  The  remains  were  received  by  a  proces 
sion,  and  were  carried  to  the  State  House,  where  they 
they  were  deposited  in  the  Hall  of  Representatives,  under 


TOMB    OF     ABRAHAM     LINCOLN     AT      S  P  R  1  N  O  Fl  K  Ll>. 


THE   FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  675 

a  canopy  of  exquisite  design  and  finish ;  while,  promi 
nent  amid  the  tasteful  decorations  of  the  place,  were  the 
words  of  President  Lincoln  at  Independence  Hall, 
Philadelphia,  February  22d,  1861 :  "  SOONER  THAN  SUR 
RENDER  THESE  PRINCIPLES,  I  WOULD  BE  ASSASSINATED  ON 


THE  SPOT." 


Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  citizens  of  the  place,  with 
thousands  who  came  pouring  in  by  every  mode  of  con 
veyance,  sought  to  gaze  on  the  face  of  the  corpse.  All 
night  long  the  streets  of  the  city  resounded  with  the 
tramp  of  feet.  It  was  estimated  that  more  than  seventy- 
five  thousand  passed  into  the  hall. 

During  the  morning  minute-guns  were  fired  by  Bat 
tery  K,  Missouri  light  artillery.  About  ten  o'clock  the 
coffin  was  closed  forever.  Meanwhile  a  choir  two  of 
hundred  and  fifty  voices,  and  Lebrun's  band  from  St. 
Louis,  sang  Paesello's  "  Peace,  Troubled  Soul,"  and  as  the 
coffin  was  borne  out,  Pleyel's  Hymn,  "  Children  of  the 
Heavenly  King." 

The  procession  moved  to  Oak  Eidge  Cemetery,  under 
the  immediate  command  of  Major-General  Joseph 
Hooker,  Marshal-in-Chief;  and  on  its  arrival  at  the 
cemetery,  the  remains  were  placed  in  the  tomb,  and 
after  the  simple  but  touching  ceremonies  of  interment, 
and  an  eloquent  funeral  discourse  by  Bishop  Simpson, 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  the  immense  throng  silently  dis 
persed. 

Henceforth,  the  name  and  the  fame  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln,  sixteenth  President  of  the  United  States,  is  the 
priceless  inheritance  of  the  country  which  he  loved  so 
well,  and  which  he  so  faithfully  served,  even  to  a 
martyr's  death. 


676  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

THE  ASSASSIN'S  END. 

While  the  honored  remains  of  the  murdered  President 
were  thus  journeying  on,  meeting  with  such  a  spontane 
ous  and-  magnificent  reception  as  had  never,  on  this  con 
tinent,  been  hitherto  accorded  to  any  man  living  or  dead, 
what  had  become  of  the  cowardly  assassin  ?  In  the  leap 
which  he  made  from  the  box  to  the  stage,  on  the  event 
ful  night  of  the  murder,  he  fractured  the  bones  of  one 
of  his  legs ;  yet  in  spite  of  this  mashap,  he  contrived  to 
make  his  way,  on  horseback,  into  St.  Mary's  county, 
where  he  was  concealed  for  some  days,  eluding  all  pur 
suit,  although  the  rewards  for  his  capture  amounted,  in 
the  aggregate,  to  over  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  It 
being,  however,  pretty  conclusively  ascertained  that  he 
was  in  this  locality,  parties  of  cavalry  finally  closed  in 
around  him,  so  as  to  compel  him  to  beat  a  retreat.  Thus 
surrounded,  although  disabled  by  his  fractured  leg,  for 
which  he  had  obtained  but  indifferent  treatment,  he 
worked  his  way  across  the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock 
rivers  into  Virginia,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  of 
April,  1865,  a  party  of  cavalry,  under  command  of  Lieu 
tenant  Dougherty,  traced  him  to  a  barn  on  the  farm  of 
Henry  Garrett,  between  Bowling  Green  and  Port  Royal, 
and  near  Fredericksburg,  where,  with  an  accomplice 
named  David  C.  Harrold,  he  was  concealed. 

The  cavalry  surrounding  the  barn,  called  upon  the 
fugitives  to  surrender,  and  Harrold  complied  ;  but  Booth 
refusing  to  do  so,  the  barn  was  set  on  fire  in  the  rear. 
Booth  then,  after  theatrically  challenging  the  lieutenant 
and  the  entire  party  of  cavalrymen  to  combat,  prepared 
to  fire  among  them.  Sergeant  Boston  Corbett  immedi- 


THE  ASSASSIN'S  END.  677 

ately  leveled  his  piece  and  fired,  shooting  the  wretched 
assassin  in  the  head,  and  causing  very  much  such  a 
wound  as  Booth  had  inflicted  upon  the  President  less 
than  two  weeks  before.  Booth  lived  for  two  or  three 
hours  after  receiving  his  wound,  and  his  body,  with  the 
person  of  Harrold,  was  at  once  removed  to  Washington. 

Thus,  even  before  the  remains  of  his  illustrious  vic 
tim  had  reached  their  final  destination,  the  miserable 
assassin  had  met  the  death  of  a  dog,  despised  and  exe 
crated  by  millions  on  both  continents. 

Payne,  the  attempted  murderer  of  Mr.  Seward ;  David 
C.  Harrold,  the  accomplice  of  Booth  in  his  flight ;  Atze- 
roth,  to  whom  it  is  said  had  been  assigned  the  assassina 
tion  of  President  Johnson ;  Mrs.  Surratt,  who  harbored 
the  assassins  during  the  progress  of  their  plottings,  were 
all  captured,  tried  before  a  military  court-martial,  and 
by  itsi  order  hung,  on  the  7th  of  July.  By  the  decree 
of  the  same  court,  Dr.  Samuel  Mudd,  who  assisted  Booth 
in  his  escape ;  Samuel  Arnold,  proved  to  have  been  in 
the  conspiracy  to  abduct  the  President,  and  Michael 
O'Laughlin,  to  whom,  it  was  alleged,  was  assigned  the 
murder  of  General  Grant,  were  sentenced  to  imprison 
ment  for  life  on  the  Dry  Tortugas.  Sp angler,  the  stage- 
carpenter  of  Ford's  theatre,  was  sentenced  to  six  years 
imprisonment  in  the  Albany  (N.  Y.)  penitentiary.  Thus 
falls  the  curtain  upon  the  actors  in  this  fearful  tragedy. 


678  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ABKAHAM  LINCOLN. 

FOULLY  ASSASSINATED,  APRIL  14,  1865. 
(From  the  London  Punch.) 

You  lay  a  wreath  on  murdered  Lincoln's  bier, 
You,  who  with  mocking  pencil  wont  to  trace, 

Broad  for  the  self-complacent  British  sneer, 

His  length  of  shambling  limb,  his  furrowed  face ; 

His  gaunt,  gnarled  hands,  his  unkempt,  bristling  hair, 
His  garb  uncouth,  his  bearing  ill  at  ease, 

His  lack  of  all  we  prize  as  debonair, 

Of  power  or  will  to  shine,  of  art  to  please. 

You,  whose  smart  pen  backed  up  the  pencil's  laugh, 
Judging  each  step,  as  though  the  way  were  plain; 

Reckless,  so  it  could  point  its  paragraph, 
Of  chiefs  perplexity,  or  people's  pain. 

Beside  this  corpse,  that  bears  for  winding-sheet 
The  stars  and  stripes  he  lived  to  rear  anew, 

Between  the  mourners  at  his  head  and  feet,  I 

Say,  scurrile  jester,  is  there  room  for  you  ? 

Yes,  he  had  lived  to  shame  me  from  my  sneer, 
To  lame  my  pencil,  and  confute  my  pen — 

To  make  me  own  this  hind  of  princes  peer, 
This  rail-splitter  a  true-born  king  of  men. 

My  shallow  judgment  I  had  learnt  to  rue, 
Noting  how  to  occasion's  height  he  rose, 

How  his  quaint  wit  made  home-truth  seem  more  true, 
How,  iron-like,  his  temper  grew  by  blows. 

How  humble,  yet  how  hopeful  he  could  be — 
How  in  good-fortune  and  in  ill  the  same  : 

Nor  bitter  in  success,  nor  boastful  he, 
Thirsty  for  gold,  nor  feverish  for  fame. 

He  went  about  his  work — such  work  as  few 
Ever  had  laid  on  head  and  heart  and  hand — 

As  one  who  knows,  where  there's  a  task  to  do, 
Man's  honest  will  must  Heaven's  good  grace  command ; 


PUNCH'S   TRIBUTE   TO   HIS   MEMORY.  679 

Who  trusts  the  strength  will  with  the  burden  grow, 
That  God  makes  instruments  to  work  his  will, 

If  but  that  will  we  can  arrive  to  know, 
Nor  temper  with  the  weights  of  good  and  ill. 

So  he  went  forth  to  battle,  on  the  side 

That  he  felt  clear  was  Liberty's  and  Right's, 
As  in  his  peasant  boyhood  he  had  plied 

His  warfare  with  rude  Nature's  thwarting  mights; 

The  uncleared  forest,  the  unbroken  soil, 

The  iron  bark  that  turns  the  lumberer's  axe, 
The  rapid,  that  o'erbears  the  boatman's  toil, 

The  prairie,  hiding  the  mazed  wanderer's  tracks ; 

The  ambushed  Indian,  and  the  prowling  bear — 

Such  were  the  needs  that  helped  his  youth  to  train; 

Rough  culture — but  such  trees  large  fruit  may  bear, 
If  but  their  stocks  be  of  right  girth  and  grain. 

So  he  grew  up,  a  destined  work  to  do, 

And  lived  to  do  it :  four  long-suffering  years, 
Ill-fate,  ill-feeling,  ill-report  lived  through, 

And  then  he  heard  the  hisses  changed  to  cheers ; 

The  taunts  to  tribute,  the  abuse  to  praise, 

And  took  both  with  the  same  unwavering  mood : 

Till,  as  he  came  on  light,  from  darkling  days, 

And  seemed  to  touch  the  goal  from  where  he  stood ; 

A  felon  had,  between  the  goal  and  him, 

Reached  from  behind  his  back,  a  trigger  prest — 

And  those  perplexed  and  patient  eyes  were  dim, 
Those  gaunt,  long-labored  limbs  were  laid  to  rest ! 

The  words  of  mercy  were  upon  his  lips, 

Forgiveness  in  his  heart  and  on  his  pen, 
When  this  vile  murderer  brought  swift  eclipse 

To  thoughts  of  peace  on  earth,  good-will  to  men. 

The  Old  World  and  the  New,  from  sea  to  sea, 

Utter  one  voice  of  sympathy  and  shame  ! 
Sore  heart,  so  stopped  when  it  at  last  beat  high ; 

Sad  life,  cut  short  just  as  its  triumph  came. 


680  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

REMINISCENCES    AND    ANECDOTES    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.* 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Christian  Experiences,  and  Christian  Sentiments. — His 
firmness. — The  Pardoning  Power. — Mr.  Lincoln's  love  of  Homer. — His 
Memory. — His  aptness  of  Expression. — The  Emancipation  Proclamation. 
— His  "  Little  Story,"  at  the  Peace  Conference. — His  Justification  of 
the  Amnesty  Proclamation. — He  loses  his  temper  for  once. — His  rela 
tions  with  the  People. — His  tenderness  of  heart. — His  faithful  admo 
nition. — Mr.  Lincoln  "  Pokes  "  on  Kentucky  neutrality. — Reminis 
cences  of  President  Lincoln  by  an  old  associate  and  friend. — His 
simplicity  and  artlessnesss  of  character. — His  native  dignity. — His 
desire  for  knowledge. — His  modesty. — His  personal  fearlessness  of 
danger. — His  kindness  of  heart.  His  honesty. — Incidents  of  his  visit 
to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. — Absence  of  mind. — He  watches  events. — 
He  remembers  his  friends. — His  little  stories. — His  power  of  memory. — 
His  literary  tastes  and  habits. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  CHRISTIAN  EXPERIENCES  AND  SENTIMENTS. 

"  A  lady  interested  in  the  work  of  the  Christian  Commission, 
had  occasion,  in  the  prosecution  of  her  duties,  to  have  several 
interviews  with  the  President  of  a  business  nature.  He  was 
much  impressed  with  the  devotion  and  earnestness  of  purpose 
she  manifested,  and  on  one  occasion,  after  she  had  discharged 
the  object  of  her  visitj  he  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  said  to 

her :  '  Mrs. ,  I  have  formed  a  very  high  opinion  of  your 

Christian  character,  and  now,  as  we  are  alone,  I  have  a  mind  to 

*  For  most  of  the  anecdotes,  forming  the  first  portion  of  this  chapter, 
we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Carpenter's  interesting  papers  in  the  Independent 
and  elsewhere.  Mr.  Carpenter's  excellent  opportunies  of  free  and  unre 
strained  intercourse  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  while  an  inmate  of  his  family,  give 
an  especial  value  to  his  recollections,  which  does  not  attach  to  many  of 
the  stories  and  sayings  which  popular  rumor  attributes  (though  errone 
ously)  to  the  late  President. 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  681 

ask  you  to  give  me,  in  brief,  your  idea  of  what  constitutes  a 
true  religious  experience.'  The  lady  replied  at  some  length, 
stating  that,  in  her  judgment,  it  consisted  of  a  conviction  of  one's 
own  sinfulness  and  weakness,  and  personal  need  of  the  Saviour 
for  strength  and  support;  that  views  of  mere  doctrine  might 
and  would  differ,  but  when  one  was  really  brought  to  feel  his 
need  of  divine  help,  and  to  seek  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for 
strength  and  guidance,  it  was  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  having 
been  born  again.  This  was  the  substance  of  her  replv.  When 
she  had  concluded,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  very  thoughtful  for  a  few 
moments.  He  at  length  said  very  earnestly,  'If  what  you  have 
told  me  is  really  a  correct  view  of  this  great  subject,  I  think  I 
can  say  with  sincerity,  that  I  hope  I  am  a  Christian.  I  had 
lived,'  he  continued,  'until  my  boy  Willie  died,  without  re 
alizing  fully  these  things.  That  blow  overwhelmed  me.  It 
showed  me  my  weakness  as  I  had  never  felt  it  before,  and  if  I 
can  take  what  you  have  stated  as  a  test,  I  think  I  can  safely  say 
that  I  know  something  of  that  change  of  which  you  speak,  and 
I  will  further  add,  that  it  has  been  my  intention  for  some  time, 
at  a  suitable  opportunity,  to  make  a  public  religious  profession !' " 

"  As  a  ruler,"  says  Bishop  Simpson,  "  I  doubt  if  any  President 
has  ever  showed  such  trust  in  God,  or  in  public  documents  so 
frequently  referred  to  divine  aid.  Often  did  he  remark  to 
friends  and  delegations  that  his  hope  for  our  success  rested  in 
his  conviction  that  God  would  bless  our  efforts,  because  we  were 
trying  to  do  right.  To  the  address  of  a  large  religious  body,  he 
replied,  '  Thanks  be  unto  God,  who  in  our  national  trials 
giveth  us  the  churches.'  To  a  minister  who  said  '  he  hoped 
the  Lord  was  on  our  side,'  he  replied  'that  it  gave  him  no 
concern  whether  the  Lord  was  on  our  side  or  not,'  for  he  added, 
'  I  know  the  Lord  is  always  on  the  side  of  right ;'  and  with 
deep  feeling  added,  'but  God  is  my  witness  that  it  is  my 
constant  anxiety  and  prayer  that  both  myself  and  this  nation 
should  be  on  the  Lord's  side.'  " 


682  THE     LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"  Once,  lie  soliliquized,  half  unconsciously,  after  he  had  been 
waited  upon  by  a  committee  or  delegation,  with  reference  to 
securing  his  co-operation  in  having  the  name  of  God  inserted 
in  the  Constitution :  l  Some  people  seem  a  great  deal  more 
concerned  about  the  letter  of  a  thing,  than  about  its  spirit,1  or 
words  to  this  effect." 

HIS   FIRMNESS. 

"  Late  one  afternoon  a  lady  with  two  gentlemen  were  admitted. 
She  had  come  to  ask  that  her  husband,  who  was  a  prisoner  of 
war,  might  be  permitted  to  take  the  oath  and  be  released  from 
confinement.  To  secure  a  degree  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
President,  one  of  the  gentlemen  claimed  to  be  an  acquaintance 
of  Mrs.  Lincoln ;  this  however  received  but  little  attention,  and 
the  President  proceeded  to  ask  what  position  the  lady's  husband 
held  in  the  rebel  service.  '  Oh,'  said  she,  '  he  was  a  captain.7 
'A  captain?  rejoined  Mr.  Lincoln,  'indeed,  rather  too  big  a 
fish  to  set  free  simply  upon  his  taking  the  oath  !  If  he  was  an 
officer,  it  is  proof  positive  that  he  has  been  a  zealous  rebel ;  I 
cannot  release  him.'  Here  the  lady's  friend  reiterated  the 
assertion  of  his  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Lincoln.  Instantly  the 
President's  hand  was  upon  the  bell-rope.  The  usher  in  attend 
ance  answered  the  summons.  '  Cornelius,  take  this  man's 
name  to  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  ask  her  what  she  knows  of  him?' 
The  boy  presently  returned  with  the  reply  that  '  the  Madam '  (as 
she  was  called  by  the  servants)  knew  nothing  of  him  whatever. 
'It  is  just  as  I  suspected,'  said  the  President.  The  party  made 
one  more  attempt  to  enlist  his  sympathy,  but  without  effect. 
It  is  no  use,'  was  the  reply.  'I  cannot  release  him!'  and 
the  trio  withdrew  in  high  displeasure." 

THE   PAKDONING   POWER. 

"One  day  the  Hon.  Thaddeus  Stevens  called  with  an  elderly 
lady,  in  great  trouble,  whose  son  had  been  in  the  army,  but  for 
some  offence  had  been  court-martialed,  and  sentenced  either  to 
death  or  imprisonment  at  hard  labor  for  a  long  term,  I  do  not 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  683 

recollect  which.  There  were  some  extenuating  circumstances, 
and  after  a  full  hearing  the  President  turned  to  the  representa 
tive  and  said :  '  Mr.  Stevens,  do  you  think  this  is  a  case  which 
will  warrant  my  interference ?'  'With  my  knowledge  of  the 
facts  and  parties,'  was  the  reply,  '  I  should  have  no  hesitation 
in  granting  a  pardon.'  '  Then,'  returned  Mr.  Lincoln,  '  I  will 
pardon  him,'  and  he  proceeded  forthwith  to  execute  the  paper. 
The  gratitude  of  the  mother  was  too  deep  for  expression,  save 
by  her  tears,  and  not  a  word  was  said  between  her  and  Mr. 
Stevens  until  they  were  half  way  down  the  stairs  on  their 
passage  out,  when  she  suddenly  broke  forth  in  an  excited  man 
ner  with  the  words,  '  I  knew  it  was  a  copperhead  LIE  !' — 
'What  do  you  refer  to,  madam?' asked  Mr.  Stevens.  'Why, 
they  told  me  he  was  an  ugly  looking  man,'  she  replied  with 
vehemence.  '  He  is  the  handsomest  man  I  ever  saw  in  rny  life  !' 
And  surely  for  that  mother,  and  for  many  another,  throughout  the 
land,  no  carved  statue  of  ancient  or  modern  art,  in  all  its  sym 
metry,  ever  can  have  the  charm  which  will  forevermore  encircle 
that  care-worn,  but  gentle  face,  expressing  as  was  never  ex 
pressed  before, '  MALICE  TOWARD  NONE — CHARITY  FOR  ALL.'  " 

"One  example  of  his  exercise  of  the  pardoning  power,  may 
excite  a  smile,  as  well  as  a  tear ;  but  it  may  be  relied  upon  as 
a  veritable  relation  of  what  actually  transpired.  A  distinguished 
citizen  of  Ohio  had  an  appointment  with  the  President  one 
evening  at  six  o'clock.  As  he  entered  the  vestibule  of  the 
White  House,  his  attention  was  attracted  by  a  poorly-clad 
young  woman  who  was  violently  sobbing.  He  asked  her  the 
cause  of  her  distress.  She  said  that  she  had  been  ordered  away 
by  the  servants,  after  vainly  waiting  many  hours  to  see  the  Presi 
dent  about  her  only  brother,  who  had  been  condemned  to  death. 
Her  story  was  this :  She  and  her  brother  were  foreigners,  and 
orphans.  They  had  been  in  this  country  several  years.  Her 
brother  enlisted  in  the  army,  but,  through  bad  influences,  was 
induced  to  desert.  He  was  captured,  tried  and  sentenced  to  be 
shot — the  old  story.  The  poor  girl  had  obtained  the  signatures 


684  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  some  persons  who  had  formerly  known  him,  to  a  petition  for 
a  pardon,  and,  alone,  had  come  to  Washington  to  lay  the  case 
before  the  President.  Thronged  as  the  waiting  rooms  always 
were,  she  had  passed  the  long  hours  of  two  days  trying  in  vain 
to  get  an  audience,  and  had  at  length  been  ordered  away. 

"  The  gentleman's  feelings  were  touched.  He  said  to  her 
that  he  had  come  to  see  the  President,  but  did  not  know 
as  he  should  succeed.  He  told  her,  however,  to  follow  him 
up-stairs  and  he  would  see  what  could  be  done  for  her. 
Just  before  reaching  the  door  Mr.  Lincoln  came  out,  and  meet 
ing  his  friend  said  good-humoredly,  <  Are  you  not  ahead  of 
time  ?'  The  gentleman  showed  him  his  watch  with  the  hand 
upon  the  hour  of  six.  '  Well,'  returned  Mr.  Lincoln,  '  I  have 
been  so  busy  to-day  that  I  have  not  had  time  to  get  a  lunch. 
Go  in  and  sit  down,  I  will  be  back  directly.' 

"  The  gentleman  made  the  young  woman  accompany  him  into 
the  office,  and  when  they  were  seated,  said  to  her,  '  Now  my 
good  girl,  I  want  you  to  muster  all  the  courage  you  have  in 
the  world.  When  the  President  comes  back,  he  will  sit  down 
in  that  arm-chair.  I  shall  get  up  to  speak  to  him,  and  as  I  do 
so,  you  must  force  yourself  between  us,  and  insist  upon  his 
examination  of  your  papers,  telling  him  it  is  a  case  of  life  and 
death,  and  admits  of  no  delay.'  These  instructions  were  carried 
out  to  the  letter.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  at  first  somewhat  surprised 
at  the  apparent  forwardness  of  the  young  woman,  but  observing 
her  distressed  appearance,  he  ceased  conversation  with  his 
friend,  and  commenced  an  examination  of  the  document  she  had 
placed  in  his  hands.  Glancing  from  it  to  the  face  of  the  peti 
tioner,  whose  tears  had  broken  forth  afresh,  he  studied  its  ex 
pression  for  a  moment  and  then  his  eye  fell  upon  her  scanty, 
but  neat  dress.  Instantly  his  face  lighted  up.  '  My  poor  girl,' 
said  he,  'you  have  come  here  with  no  Governor,  or  Senator,  or 
member  of  Congress,  to  plead  your  cause.  You  seem  honest 
and  truthful ;  and  you  don't  wear  hoops — and  I  will  be  whipped, 
but  I  will  pardon  your  brother.'  " 


EEMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  685 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  LOVE  OF  HOMER. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  'thought  in  figures,'  or,  in  other  words,  an 
argument  habitually  took  on  that  form  in  his  mind.  The 
'  points'  of  his  argument  were  driven  home  in  this  way,  as  they 
could  be  in  no  other.  In  the  social  circle  this  characteristic 
had  full  play.  I  never  knew  him  to  sit  down  with  a  friend  for 
a  five  minutes'  chat,  without  being  '  reminded'  of  something 
about  somebody  alluded  to  in  the  course  of  the  conversation. 
In  a  corner  of  his  desk  he  kept  a  copy  of  some  humorous 
work,  and  it  was  frequently  his  habit,  when  greatly  fatigued, 
annoyed,  or  depressed,  to  take  this  up  and  read  a  chapter,  with 
great  relief. 

"  The  Saturday  evening  before  he  left  Washington  to  go  to 
the  front,  just  previous  to  the  capture  of  Richmond,  I  was  with 
him  from  seven  o'clock  until  nearly  twelve.  It  had  been 
a  very  hard  day  with  him.  The  pressure  of  office-seekers  was 
greater  at  this  juncture  than*  I  ever  knew  it  to  be,  and  he  was 
almost  worn  out.  Among  the  callers  that  evening,  was  a  party 
composed  of  a  Senator,  a  Representative,  an  ex-lieutenant- 
governor  of  a  western  State,  and  several  private  citizens.  They 
had  business  of  great  importance,  involving  the  necessity  of 
the  President's  examination  of  voluminous  documents.  Push 
ing  every  thing  aside,  he  said  to  one  of  the  party,  '  Have  you 
seen  the  Nasby  papers?'  'No  I  have  not,'  was  the  answer  ; 
1  who  is  Nasby  ?'  '  There  is  a  chap  out  in  Ohio,'  returned 
the  President,  '  who  has  been  writing  a  series  of  letters  in  the 
newspapers  over  the  signature  of  Petroleum  Y.  Kasby.  Some 
one  sent  me  a  pamphlet  collection  of  them  the  other  day.  I  am 
going  to  write  to  '  Petroleum '  to  come  down  here,  and  I  intend 
to  tell  him  if  he  will  communicate  his  talent  to  me,  I  will  swap 
places  with  him !'  Thereupon  he  arose,  went  to  a  drawer  in 
his  desk,  and,  taking  out  the  '  Letters,'  he  sat  down  and  read 
one  to  the  company.  The  instant  he  had  ceased,  the  book  was 
thrown  aside,  his  countenance  relapsed  into  its  habitual  serious 


686  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

expression,  and  the  business  was  entered  upon  with  the  utmost 
earnestness." 

HIS   MEMORY. 

"Mr.  Lincoln's  memory  was  very  remarkable.  With  the 
multitude  of  visitors  whom  he  saw  daily,  I  was  often  amazed 
at  the  readiness  with  which  he  recalled  faces  and  events,  and 
even  names.  At  one  of  the  afternoon  'receptions,'  a  stranger 
shook  hands  with  him,  and,  as  he  did  so,  remarked,  casually, 
that  he  was  elected  to  Congress  about  the  time  Mr.  Lincoln's  term 
as  Representative  expired.  'Yes,'  said  the  President:  'you  are 

from ,'  mentioning  the  State.   '  I  remember  reading  of  your 

election  in  a  newspaper  one  morning  on  a  steamboat  going 
down  to  Mount  Yernon.  At  another  time  a  gentleman 
addressed  him,  saying,  '  I  presume,  Mr.  President,  that  you 
have  forgotten  me  ?'  '  No,'  was  the  prompt  reply ;  '  your  name 

is  Flood.     I  saw  you  last,  twelve  years  ago,  at ,'  naming 

the  place  and  the  occasion  ;  '  I  am  glad  to  see,'  he  continued, 
'  that  the  Flood  is  still  running !'  A  deputation  of  bankers  from 
various  sections  were  introduced  one  day  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  After  a  few  moments'  general  conversation,  Mr. 
Lincoln  turned  to  one  of  them,  and  said :  '  Your  district  did 
not  give  me  as  strong  a  vote  at  the  last  election  as  it  did  in  '60.' 
'I  think,  sir,  that  you  must  be  mistaken,'  replied  the  banker. 
'I  have  the  impression  that  your  majority  was  considerably 
increased  at  the  last  election.'  'No,'  rejoined  the  President; 
'  you  fell  off  about  six  hundred  votes.'  Then  taking  down  from 
the  bookcase  the  official  record  of  the  presidential  canvass  of  '60 
and  '64,  he  referred  to  the  vote  of  the  district  named,  and 
proved  to  be  almost  exactly  right  in  his  assertion." 

HIS   APTNESS   OF   EXPRESSION. 

"It  will  be  remembered  that  an  extra  session  of  Congress  was 
called  in  July  following  Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration.  In  the 
message  then  sent  in,  speaking  of  secession,  and  the  measures 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  687 

taken  by  the  southern  leaders  to  bring  it  about,  there  occurs 
the  following  remark  :  '  With  rebellion  thus  sugar-coated,  they 
have  been  drugging  the  public  mind  of  their  section  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  until,  at  length,  they  have  brought  many 
good  men  to  a  willingness  to  take  up  arms  against  the  govern 
ment/  etc.  Mr.  Defrees,  the  government  printer,  told  me  that, 
when  the  message  was  being  printed,  he  was  a  good  deal  dis 
turbed  by  the  use  of  the  term  '  sugar-coated,'  and  finally  went 
to  the  President  about  it.  Their  relations  to  each  other  being 
of  the  most  intimate  character,  he  told  Mr.  Lincoln  frankly,  that 
he  ought  to  remember  that  a  message  to  Congress  was  a  different 
affair  from  a  speech  at  a  mass  meeting  in  Illinois — that  the  mes 
sages  became  a  part  of  history,  and  should  be  written  accord 
ingly. 

"  '  What  is  the  matter  now  ?'  inquired  the  President. 

"'Why,'  said  Mr.  Defrees,  'you  have  used  an  undignified 
expression  in  the  message ;'  and  then,  reading  the  paragraph 
aloud,  he  added,  '  1  would  alter  the  structure  of  that,  if  I  were 
you.' 

"'Defrees,'  replied  Mr.  Lincoln, 'that  word  expresses  pre 
cisely  my  idea,  and  I  am  not  going  to  change  it.  The  time 
will  never  come  in  this  country  when  the  people  won't  know 
exactly  what  sugar-coated  means  !' 

"  On  a  subsequent  occasion,  Mr.  Defrees  told  me,  a  certain 
sentence  of  another  message  was  very  awkwardly  constructed. 
Calling  the  President's  attention  to  it  in  the  proof-copy,  the 
latter  acknowledged  the  force  of  the  objection  raised,  and  said, 
'  Go  home,  Defrees,  and  see  if  you  can  better  it.'  The  next 
day  Mr.  Defrees  took  in  to  him  his  amendment.  Mr.  Lincoln 
met  him  by  saying :  '  Seward  found  the  same  fault  that  you 
did,  and  he  has  been  re-writing  the  paragraph  also.'  Then 
reading  Mr.  Defrees'  version,  he  said,  '  I  believe  you  have 
beaten  Seward ;  but  I  think  I  can  beat  you  both.'  Then, 
taking  up  his  pen,  he  wrote  the  sentence  as  it  was  finally 
printed." 


688  THE   LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

"  His  sagacity,"  says  an  eloquent  divine,  "  was  shown,  almost 
as  much  as  in  his  policy  itself,  in  the  modes  and  means,  in  the 
very  forms  of  statement  and  illustration,  by  which  he  presented 
it  to  the  public.  He  could  be  eloquent,  if  he  would.  Kemem- 
ber  the  close  of  his  Ohio  letter :  '  Peace  does  not  appear  so  dis 
tant  as  it  did.  I  hope  it  will  come  soon,  and  come  to  stay  ; 
and  so  come  as  to  be  worth  the  keeping.  It  will  then  have 
been  proved  that  among  freemen  there  can  be  no  successful 
appeal  from  the  ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  that  they  who  take 
such  appeals  are  sure  to  lose  their  case  and  pay  the  cost.  And 
then  there  will  be  some  black  men  who  can  remember  that  with 
silent  tongue,  and  clenched  teeth,  and  steady  eye,  and  well- 
poised  bayonet,  they  have  helped  mankind  on  to  this  great 
consummation ;  while  I  fear  that  there  will  be  some  white  men 
unable  to  forget  that,  with  malignant  heart  and  deceitful  speech, 
they  have  striven  to  hinder  it.' 

"  But  generally  the  most  marked  feature  of  his  style  was  its 
utter  simplicity.  The  usual  plethoric  platitudes  of  state  papers 
were  curiously  contrasted  by  his  brief,  simple,  sinewy  sentences. 
If  an  editor  wrote  to  him,  he  wrote  back  to  the  editor,  and  pub 
lished  his  answer.  And  when  the  people  had  got  over  their 
astonishment  at  his  audacity,  they  believed  all  the  more  in  hig 
utter  sincerity.  No  man  ever  lived  who  spoke  more  directly 
to  the  heart  of  the  people.  Critics  might  quarrel  with  his 
rhetoric  sometimes ;  but  critics  themselves  could  not  gainsay 
the  fact  that  his  homely  and  pithy  words  had  a  power  beyond 
all  ornate  paragraphs.  '  We  must  keep  still  pegging  away/ 
he  said,  in  the  gloomiest  period  of  the  war  ;  and  every  plain 
man  saw  his  duty  and  was  nerved  to  perform  it.  '  One  war  at 
a  time.'  All  the  orators  could  not  answer  it ;  a  unanimous 
press  could  not  have  outborne  the  impression  it  made.  '  The 
United  States  government  must  not  undertake  to  run  the 
churches.'  The  dictum  is  worth  a  half-dozen  duodecimos  on 
the  complex  relations  of  Church  and  State.  '  You  needn't  cross 
a  bridge  until  you  have  got  to  it.'  If  men's  minds  were  not 


REMINISCENCES  AND  ANECDOTES.  689 

discharged  of  their  fears  concerning  the  effect  of  a  general 
emancipation,  they  were  at  least  widely  persuaded  to  postpone 
these  by  the  pithy  advice. 

" '  The  central  idea  of  secession,'  he  said,  in  one  of  his  mes 
sages,  '  is  the  essence  of  anarchy  ;'  and  elaborate  pages  could 
not  have  said  more  than  that  one  apothegm.  It  is  a  head-line 
for  Copybooks  for  all  time  to  come.  Always,  the  sagacity 
which  had  selected  his  policy,  and  which  usually  chose  with 
great  final  correctness  the  men  and  the  times  for  putting  it  in 
practice,  was  shown  as  well  in  the  homely  phrase,  or  proverb, 
or  anecdote,  which  made  it  familiar  throughout  the  land.  More 
than  his  opponents  knew  at  the  time,  more  than  the  people 
themselves  were  aware,  he  argued  the  questions  of  his  Admin 
istration,  he  carried  the  public  judgment  to  his  conclusions  by 
those  quaint  words  which  all  remembered,  and  which  were 
repeated  with  laughing  satisfaction  at  thousands  of  firesides. 
His  maxims  were  more  effective  than  his  messages,  and  a  score 
of  presses  could  not  rival  the  service  of  some  of  his  stories." 

THE   EMANCIPATION    PEOCLAMATION. 

"At  another  time,  speaking  to  Governor  Morgan  of  the 
adoption  of  the  emancipation  policy,  shortly  after  the  issue  of 
the  proclamation,  he  said :  '  There  are  those  who  have  been 
asserting  for  some  time,  that  slavery  is  dead.  This  is  very  far 
from  being  true.  I  think  we  are  a  good  deal  like  whalers  who 
have  been  long  on  the  chase.  We  have  at  last  got  the  harpoon 
into  the  monster,  but  we  must  now  look  how  we  steer,  or  with 
one  flop  of  his  tail  he  will  yet  send  us  all  into  eternity  1' 

"  By  the  act  of  emancipation,  Mr.  Lincoln  built  for  himself 
forever,  the  first  place  in  the  affections  of  the  African  race  in 
this  country.  The  love  and  reverence  manifested  for  him 
by  many  of  these  poor,  ignorant  people  has,  on  some  occasions, 
almost  reached  adoration.  One  day  Colonel  McKaye,  of  New 
York,  who  had  been  one  of  a  committee  to  investigate  the  con 
dition  of  the  freedmen,  upon  his  return  from  Hilton  Head  and 
44 


690  THE   LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Beaufort,  called  upon  the  President,  and,  in  the  course  of  the 
interview,  mentioned  the  following  incident : 

"  He  had  been  speaking  of  the  ideas  of  power  entertained  by 
these  people.  They  had  an  idea  of  God,  as  the  Almighty,  and 
they  had  realized,  in  their  former  condition,  the  power  of  their 
masters.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  arrival  among  them  of  the 
Union  forces,  they  had  no  knowledge  of  any  other  power. 
Their  masters  fled  upon  the  approach  of  our  soldiers,  and  this 
gave  the  slaves  a  conception  of  a  power  greater  than  their 
masters  exercised.  This  power  they  called  'Massa  Linkum.' 
Colonel  McKaye  said  that  their  place  of  worship  was  a  large 
building  which  they  called  '  the  praise  house,7  and  the  leader  of 
the  '  meeting,'  a  venerable  black  man,  was  known  as  '  the  praise 
man/  On  a  certain  day,  when  there  was  quite  a  large  gather 
ing  of  the  people,  considerable  confusion  was  created  by 
different  persons  attempting  to  tell  who  and  what  'Massa 
Linkum'  was.  In  the  midst  of  the  excitement,  the  white- 
headed  leader  commanded  silence.  '  Brederin,'  said  he,  '  you 
don't  know  nosen'  what  you'se  talkin'  'bout.  Now,  you  just 
listen  to  me.  Massa  Linkum,  he  ebery  whar.  He  know  ebery 
ting.'  Then,  solemnly  looking  up,  he  added  :  '  He  walk  de  earf 
like  de  Lord!' 

"  Colonel  McKaye  told  me  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  very  much 
affected  by  this  account.  He  did  not  smile,  as  another  might 
have  done,  but  got  up  from  his  chair,  and  walked  in  silence  two 
or  three  times  across  the  floor.  As  he  resumed  his  seat,  he 
said,  very  impressively,  'It  is  a  momentous  thing  to  be  the 
instrument,  under  Providence,  of  the  liberation  of  a  race !' " 

HIS  "LITTLE  STOEY"  AT  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE. 

"Among  his  stories  freshest  in  my  mind,  one  which  he 
related  to  me  shortly  after  its  occurrence,  belongs  to  the  history 
of  the  famous  interview  on  board  the  Kiver  Queen  at  Hampton 
Roads,  between  himself  and  Secretary  Seward,  and  the  rebel 
peace  commissioners.  It  was  reported  at  the  time,  that  the 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  691 

President  told  a  '  little  story'  on  that  occasion,  and  the  inquiry 
went  around  among  the  newspapers,  '  What  was  it  ?'  Being  in 
Washington  a  few  days  subsequent  to  the  interview  with  the 
commissioners  (my  previous  sojourn  there  having  terminated 
about  the  first  of  last  August),  I  asked  Mr.  Lincoln  one  day, 
'  if  it  was  true  that  he  told  Stephens,  Hunter  and  Campbell,  a 
story?'  'Why  yes,'  he  replied,  manifesting  some  surprise,  'but 
has  it  leaked  out?  I  was  in  hopes  nothing  would  be  said 
about  it,  lest  some  over-sensitive  people  should  imagine  there 
was  a  degree  of  levity  in  the  intercourse  between  us.'  He  then 
went  on  to  relate  the  circumstances  which  called  it  out.  '  You 
see,'  said  he,  '  we  had  reached  and  were  discussing  the  slavery 
question.  Mr.  Stephens  said  substantially,  that  the  slaves, 
always  accustomed  to  an  overseer,  and  to  work  upon  com 
pulsion,  suddenly  freed,  as  they  would  be  if  the  South  should 
consent  to  peace  on  the  basis  of  the  Emancipation  Proclama 
tion,  would  precipitate  not  only  themselves,  but  the  entire 
southern  society  into  irremediable  ruin.  No  work  would 
be  done,  nothing  would  be  cultivated,  and  both  blacks  and 
whites  would  starve  /'  Said  the  President,  'I  waited  for  Seward 
to  answer  that  argument,  but  as  he  was  silent,  I  at  length  said : 
Mr.  Stephens,  you  ought  to  know  a  great  deal  better  about  this 
matter  than  I,  for  you  have  always  lived  under  the  slave 
system.  I  can  only  say  in  reply  to  your  statement  of  the  case, 
that  it  reminds  me  of  a  man  out  in  Illinois  by  the  name  of 
Case,  who  undertook,  a  few  years  ago,  to  raise  a  very  large  herd 
of  hogs.  It  was  a  great  trouble  to  feed  them,  and  how  to  get 
around  this  was  a  puzzle  to  him.  At  length  he  hit  on  the  plan 
of  planting  an  immense  field  of  potatoes,  and,  when  they  were 
sufficiently  grown,  he  turned  the  whole  herd  into  the  field,  and 
let  them  have  full  swing,  thus  saving  not  only  the  labor  of 
feeding  the  hogs,  but  also  that  of  digging  the  potatoes ! 
Charmed  with  his  sagacity,  he  stood  one  day  leaning  against 
the  fence  counting  his  hogs,  when  a  neighbor  came  along. 
'  Well,  well,'  said  he,  '  Mr.  Case,  this  is  all  very  fine.  Your 


692  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

hogs  are  doing  very  well  just  now,  but  you  know  out  here  in 
Illinois  the  frost  comes  early,  and  the  ground  freezes  for  a  foot 
deep.  Then  what  are  they  going  to  do  ?'  This  was  a  view  of 
the  matter  Mr.  Case  had  not  taken  into  account.  Butchering 
time  for  hogs  was  way  on  in  December  or  January  ?  He 
scratched  his  head,  and  at  length  stammered,  'Well,  it  may 
come  pretty  hard  on  their  snouts,  but  I  don't  see  but  that  it  will 
be  root  hog  or  die!'  He  did  not  tell  me  that  either  of  the 
' Commissioners'  made  any  reply  to  this  way  of  'putting 
things.'  It  is  very  evident  that  there  was  little  more  argument 
necessary  on  one  side  of  the  question  at  least  1" 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  JUSTIFICATION  OF  THE  AMNESTY  PROCLAMATION. 

"  One  day  I  took  a  couple  of  friends,  from  New  York,  up 
stairs,  who  wished  to  be  introduced  to  the  President.  It  was 
after  the  hour  for  business  calls,  and  we  found  him  alone,  and, 
for  once,  at  leisure.  Soon  after  the  introduction,  one  of  my 
friends  took  occasion  to  indorse,  very  decidedly,  the  President's 
Amnesty  Proclamation,  which  had  been  severely  censured  by 

many  friends  of  the  Administration.      Mr.  S 's  approval 

touched  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  said,  with  a  great  deal  of  emphasis, 
and  with  an  expression  of  countenance  I  shall  never  forget, 
'  When  a  man  is  sincerely  penitent  for  his  misdeeds,  and  gives 
satisfactory  evidence  of  the  same,  he  can  safely  be  pardoned, 
and  there  is  no  exception  to  the  rule !' " 

HE   LOSES   HIS   TEMPER   FOR  ONCE. 

"  I  believe  there  is  but  one  instance  of  the  President's  losing 
his  temper.  Many  of  the  northern  people  were  scandalized 
that  Kentucky  should,  in  the  beginning  of  the  war,  declare 
herself  neutral  in  the  contest ;  and  also  that,  in  dealing  with 
slavery,  the  opinion  of  that  State  should  be  so  much  consulted 
by  the  President.  On  one  occasion,  when  a  Senator  of  very 
decided  opinions  was  in  consultation  with  the  chief  magistrate, 
the  latter  said,  concerning  some  proposition,  'But  will  Ken- 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  693 

tucky  stand  that  ?'  '  Damn  Kentucky  !'  exclaimed  the  Senator. 
'Then  damn  youT  cried  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  warmth.  But, 
much  as  he  loved  his  native  State,  there  were  points  on  which 
he  would  'put  his  foot  down,'  even  to  her.  A  Kentuckian, 
wishing  some  governmental  aid  in  recovering  his  slaves,  escaped 
and  escaping,  '  reminded  him,'  he  said,  '  of  a  little  story.  When 
I  was  going  down  the  Ohio  once  on  a  steamer,  a  little  boy 
came  up  to  the  captain,  and  said,  '  Captain,  please  stop  the  boat 
a  little  while ;  I've  lost  my  apple  overboard  1' " 

HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  THE  PEOPLE. 

"The  following  incident  illustrates  the  strong  attachment 
felt  for  him  by  the  people.  On  the  3d  of  July,  1861,  a  review 
of  a  New  Jersey  brigade  occurred  in  front  of  the  President's 
house.  As  the  column  approached,  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  a  few 
attendants,,  took  his  stand  on  the  walk,  and  with  a  countenance 
of  extreme  sadness,  received  the  salutations  from  the  swords 
and  banners  of  the  passing  troops,  in  their  gay  uniforms. 
Immediately  after  the  last  company  had  passed,  a  promiscuous 
crowd,  which  the  then  novel  scene  had  collected,  began  to 
gather  closely  around  the  President — for  whose  safety  not  a 
little  anxiety  was  felt,  as  the  rebel  army  was  then  crouching  at 
Manassas,  within  a  single  leap  of  "Washington,  and  traitors 
were  then  lurking  in  many  corners  of  the  city.  His  body 
guard  of  three  or  four  soldiers  soon  found  themselves  outside 
of  a  crowd  of  several  hundred,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  Mr. 
Lincoln's  tall  figure.  The  great  majority  of  those  around  him 
were  laboring  men  in  rough  attire,  all  striving  to  reach  him. 
His  sad  looks  vanished  as  he  shook  their  broad  hands,  and 
heard  them  greet  him  in  terms  freely  used  just  before  his 
election.  'Hurrah  for  Old  Abe!'  and  'Hurrah  for  the  Kail- 
Splitter!'  were  exclamations  frequently  heard  from  tongues  of 
various  brogue.  He,  seeing  them  pressing  around  him  as  if 
to  keep  him  there,  rushed  through  their  midst,  and  at  a  short 
distance  from  them  stationed  himself  by  a  stone  pillar,  and 
good-naturedly  said  to  them:  'Now  come  on!' 


694  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"  They  immediately  formed  a  procession,  and  began  to  pass 
him,  each  shaking  his  hand,  while  he,  with  his  long  arms 
crossed,  shook  the  hands  of  two  men  at  the  same  time.  They 
joked  him  and  he  joked  them,  and  all  laughed  loudly,  while 
many  exclaimed,  'God  bless  you,  Old  Abe !'  At  first  the  scene 
was  to  me  somewhat  mortifying,  as  I  looked  upon  the  chief 
magistrate  of  our  nation  in  that  crowd.  I  could  remember  of 
nothing  like  it  in  history,  nor  could  I  think  of  a  ruler  in  the 
old  world  who  would  thus  place  himself  on  a  level  with  the 
common  people.  But  there  'the  conviction  was  firmly  estab 
lished,  in  the  minds  of  all  who  rightly  interpreted  this  incident, 
that  the  President,  whose  honest  simplicity  and  cheerful  faith 
under  momentous  responsibilities  thus  united  the  masses  in 
sympathy  with  himself,  would  not  be  in  want  of  co-operation 
and  esteem ;  and  the  impression  upon  my  feelings  then,  as  his 
hand  grasped  mine,  as  I  looked  into  his  face  and  heard  his 
voice,  was  harmonious  with  those  awakened  by  the  immortal 
words,  '  With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all.' 

"'His  sympathy  with  men,'  says  another  friend,  'was  shown 
not  only  in  his  singularly  warm  personal  attachments  to  his 
family  and  his  friends,  to  all  who  for  any  considerable  time 
were  confidentially  associated  with  him ;  it  was  shown  as  well 
in  that  kindness  to  the  poor,  the  sorrowful,  the  imperilled,  with 
instances  of  which  the  journals  of  the  country  for  four  years 
past  have  been  running  over.  The  wearied,  sick,  or  wounded 
soldier  found  always  a  friend  in  him  as  solicitous  for  his  welfare 
as  if  he  had  been  his  kinsman  by  birth.  The  little  children  in 
the  Home  for  the  Destitute  were  touched  by  the  tearful  tender 
ness  and  dignity,  the  instructive  clearness,  and  the  quickening 
playfulness  with  which  he  addressed  them.  The  poor  freed 
people  who  had  escaped  from  the  slavery  through  which  his 
armies  crushed  their  way,  but  had  escaped  to  communities  that 
seemed  less  friendly  than  those  they  had  left,  and  had  passed 
from  a  bondage  which  at  least  had  given  them  shelter  and  food 
to  a  liberty  that  threatened  to  doom  them  to  idleness  and  to 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  695 

overwhelm  them  in  an  absolute  want — it  was  not  with  osten 
tatious  charity,  it  was  with  no  splendid  philanthropical  theory, 
it  was  with  a  tender,  welcoming  respect,  that  he  heard  their 
story,  examined  their  condition,  and  opened  the  way  for  escape 
from  their  fears.  After  four  years  of  incessant,  bloody, 
desperate  struggle,  he  entered  Eichmond,  with  characteristic 
unostentation,  not  at  the  head  of  marshalled  armies,  with 
banners  advanced  and  trumpets  sounding,  but  as  a  private 
gentleman,  on  foot,  with  an  officer  on  one  side,  holding  the 
hand  of  his  boy  on  the  other.  An  aged  negro  met  him  on  the 
street  and  said,  with  the  tears  streaming  down  his  face  as  he 
bowed  low  his  uncovered  head, '  God  bress  you,  Massa  Lincoln  [' 
The  President  paused,  raised  his  hat  on  the  instant,  and  with  a 
hearty  '  I  thank  you,  sir,7  acknowledged  with  a  bow  the 
greeting.  Instinctively  he  recognized  the  poorest  as  his  peer, 
and  the  black  man  as  his  brother. 

"  The  same  spirit  was  revealed,  in  a  more  unique  exhibition, 
in  his  sympathetic  regard  for  his  opponents.  He  laughed  at 
the  jokes  which  were  made  about  himself;  was  tolerant,  to  a 
degree  before  unexampled,  of  attacks  on  his  policy ;  and  never 
took  a  particle  of  venom  into  his  nature  from  all  the  virulent 
assaults  that  were  made  on  him.  While  holding  tenaciously  to 
his  own  views  of  truth,  he  never  failed  to  do  generous  justice 
to  the  reasons  and  the  motives  of  those  who  combatted  them ; 
to  recognize  in  them  wherever  he  could,  and  sometimes  where 
none  of  his  colleagues  could,  a  patriotism  as  genuine  as  his 
own,  and  a  purpose  as  true  to  secure  and  promote  the  general 
welfare.  He  talked  with,  reasoned  with,  wrote  to  them,  in  this 
spirit,  was  not  moved  from  his  position  of  friendliness  toward 
them  by  their  misconceptions  or  their  abuse,  and  never  could 
believe  them  traitorous  in  their  hearts  till  the  overt  act  had 
compelled  him  to  see  it.  Toward  even  those  who  had 
dangerously  offended  against  the  laws,  he  hardly  could  bring 
himself  to  adopt  any  course  save  one  of  the  utmost  clemency 
and  gentleness.  He  pardoned  with  so  much  eagerness  and 


696  THE   LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

frequency  that  one  of  his  own  Cabinet  officers  declared  that  the 
power  of  pardoning  should  be  taken  from  him." 

*  The  first  time  I  saw  Mr.  Lincoln  at  Washington,"  says  a 
distinguished  lawyer,  "  was  in  the  summer  of  '62.  McClellan's 
army  was  at  that  time  resting  at  Harrison's  Landing.  A  party 
of  us  were  invited  to  go  down  to  the  Navy  Yard  and  witness 
the  testing  of  some  inventions  by  Colonel  Dahlgren  and  others. 
It  was  a  very  hot  day,  and  as  we  passed  down  to  the  steamboat 
dock  one  of  our  party  made  desperate  efforts  to  raise  an  umbrella 
right  over  the  head  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  After  a  while  the  Presi 
dent  turned  and  said — '  Well,  really,  this  is  a  very  commendable1 
enterprise  of  yours,  but  it  is  the  first  time  I  have  had  an  um 
brella  held  over  my  head  to  keep  off  the  sun.'  We  afterwards 
heard  from  him  a  full  account  of  the  Chickahommy  campaign. 
Mr.  Lincoln  said — '  If  you  will  promise  not  to  put  any  thing  in 
the  newspapers,  I  will  give  you  the  facts  of  the  campaign — and 
he  did,  without  saying  a  single  unkind  word  against  McClellan. 
Coming  up  on  the  steamboat  afterwards  we  saw  some  heavy 
axes  on  board.  Mr.  Lincoln  suddenly  rose  and  said — i  You 
may  talk  about  your  rifle  repeaters  and  your  eleven  inch 
Dahlgrens,  but  I  guess  I  understand  that  there  institution  as 
well  as  any  thing  else.  There  was  a  time  when  I  could  hold 
out  one  of  these  things  at  arm's  length.'  The  President  then 
took  hold  of  one  of  the  axes,  and  held  it  out  horizontally  by 
the  handle  at  arm's  length.  Several  gentlemen  present  essayed 
to  do  the  same  but  failed.  I  was  in  Washington  during  the  riots 
in  Brooklyn,  during  which  a  tobacco  factory  had  been  destroyed, 
and  some  one  spoke  of  it  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  said — '  What  is 
it  they  have  been  at  ?'  Our  worthy  friend  who  was  postmaster 
at  that  time  referred  him  to  rne.  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  '  Then  your 
rioters  deny  the  right  of  man  to  work  for  a  living,  do  they  ?  I 
think  that  is  one  of  the  plainest  of  human  rights.'  There  was 
an  impression  that  Mr.  Lincoln  failed  to  understand  the  senti 
ment  of  the  people,  and  a  flippant  reporter  once  sent  a  telegram 
from  Washington  that  Mr.  Lincoln  never  read  the  newspa- 


REMINISCENCES   AND  ANECDOTES.  697 

pers.     I  am  satisfied  that  lie  was  a  judicious  reader  of  the 
newspapers.' " 

"  The  invention  of  the  '  Kaphael  Repeater  '  was  once  brought 
up  in  conversation.  Its  peculiarity  was  that  it  prevented  the 
escape  of  gas.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  seen  it  tried  and  after  writing 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  asking  him  to  give  it  a  trial,  he  said, 
'  Yes,  I  believe  this  does  fairly  prevent  the  escape  of  gas.  Now, 
have  any  of  you  heard  of  any  machine  or  invention  which 
will  prevent  the  escape  of  gas  from  newspaper  establishments  ?' 
This  was  doubtless  an  allusion  to  an  article  which  had  appeared 
the  previous  evening  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  and  it 
was  very  evident  that  he  had  been  reading  it." 

HIS   TENDERNESS   OF   HEART. 

"  I  remember  at  one  time,  when  going  towards  the  White 
House,  meeting  Mr.  Sweat,  a  distinguished  politician  from 
Illinois.  He  said  he  had  left  Mr.  Lincoln  in  tears.  He  had 
been  describing  the  death  of  a  friend  from  Illinois,  who  had 
been  mortally  wounded  at  Shiloh.  After  the  President  had 
heard  the  narration,  he  said,  '  Sweat,  you  must  stop  just  there. 
I  can't  hear  any  more  of  this,'  and  he  burst  into  tears." 

HIS   FAITHFUL   ADMONITION. 

"  In  a  recent  discourse  in  Cambridgeport,  Massachusetts,  Rev. 
Henry  C.  Badger  related  the  following  anecdote,  one  of  the 
thousands  that  are  to  be  as  household  words  in  this  country  for 
many  generations  to  come :  A  friend  of  mine,  who  had  been 
unjustly  dismissed  from  the  army,  was  reinstated  on  appealing 
to  the  ever-patient  head  of  the  nation,  whose  task  it  was  to 
undo  the  evil  deeds  others  had  done;  but  as  the  President 
restored  to  him  his  commission,  perceiving  the  young  man's 
fault,  he  said  kindly,  and  with  a  father's  faithful  rebuke.  '  I 
fear,  my  young  friend,  that  you  are  inclined  to  be  quarrelsome? 
And  when  the  young  man,  willing  to  justify  himself,  said  that 
might  not  be  so  grave  a  fault  in  a  soldier,  whose  business  was 
fighting,  the  President  rejoined,  'No  sir,  you  are  mistaken;  I 


698  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

find  that  the  quiet  and  peaceable  young  men  make  the  best 
officers  and  bravest  soldiers.' " 

Albert  D.  Richardson,  the  well-known  war  correspon 
dent  of  the  Tribune,  relates  the  following  incidents, 
which  occurred  in  a  visit  to  the  President,  in  1861. 

"  I  reached  Washington  on  the  historic  19th  of  April.  Just 
after  my  arrival,  the  Baltimore  streets  were  stained  with  Massa 
chusetts  blood,  railroads  torn  up,  telegraph  wires  cut,  and  the 
panic-stricken  city  virtually  blockaded. 

"  As  I  was  the  last  man  from  the  South,  two  Senators  insisted 
upon  taking  me  to  the  White  House.  The  President  received 
us  with  great  kindness,  but  his  countenance  was  almost  ghastly 
with  care. 

1  Uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears  a  crown,' 

though  it  were  only  the  chaplet  of  a  republic.  This  man  has 
filled  the  measure  of  American  ambition.  There  was  the  same 
geniality,  the  same  tendency  to  anecdote,  but  the  old  ringing 
laugh  was  dull  and  mechanical ;  the  remembered  brightness  of 
the  face  was  gone,  and  his  blushing  honors  seemed  pallid  and 
ashen. 

"He  questioned  me  very  minutely  about  the  resources  and 
immediate  designs  of  the  rebels,  the  public  temper  in  the  South, 
and  the  probabilities  of  the  hour. 

" '  Douglas,'  said  he,  '  spent  three  hours  with  me  this  morning. 
For  several  days  he  has  been  ill,  unable  to  attend  to  business. 
So  he  has  been  studying  the  points  until  he  understands  the 
military  situation,  I  think,  better  than  any  of  the  rest  of  us. 
By  the  way '  (with  his  peculiar  twinkle  of  the  eye),  '  he  talked 
a  little  about  the  old  subject  in  a  new  tone.  '  You  know,'  said 
Douglas,  '  I  have  always  been  very  sound  on  the  negro  ques 
tion.  I  have  believed  in  enforcing  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  in 
all  instances,  with  its  true  intent  and  meaning.  But  after  a 
careful  study  I  have  about  concluded  that  a  Slave  insurrection 
would  be  a  case  to  which  it  does  not  apply !' "  *  *  * 


REMINISCENCES  AND   ANECDOTES.  699 

MB.   LINCOLN   "  POKES "   ON   KENTUCKY  NEUTRALITY. 

"  While  Kousseau  was  urging  the  necessity  of  enlisting  troops 
he  remarked : 

'"I  have  half  pretended  to  submit  to  Kentucky  neutrality, 
but,  in  discussing  the  matter  before  the  people,  while  apparently 
standing  upon  the  line,  I  have  almost  always  poked.1 

"  This  word  was  not  in  the  Cabinet  vocabulary.  Cameron 
looked  inquiringly  at  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  supposed  to  be 
familiar  with  the  dialect  of  his  native  State. 

"  '  General,7  said  the  President,  '  you  don't  know  what  poke  ' 
means  ?  Why,  when  you  play  marbles,  you  are  required  to 
shoot  from  a  mark  on  the  ground ;  when  you  reach  over  with 
your  hand,  beyond  the  line,  that  is  poking.1 

"  Cameron  favored  enlistments  in  Kentucky,  without  delay. 
Mr.  Lincoln  replied :  '  Don't  be  too  hasty :  we  should  act  with 
caution.7  Eousseau  explained :  '  The  masses  in  Kentucky  are 
loyal.  I  can  get  as  many  soldiers  there  as  are  wanted ;  but  if 
the  rebels  raise  troops,  while  we  do  not,  our  young  men  will 
go  into  their  army,  taking  the  sympathies  of  kindred  and  friends, 
and  may  finally  cause  the  State  to  secede.  It  is  of  vital  impor 
tance  that  we  give  loyal  direction  to  the  sentiment  of  our 
people.' " 

AN  INTERVIEW  WITH   MR.  LINCOLN. 

"  Of  an  interview,  Mr.  E.,  thus  speaks :  '  Despondent  and 
weighed  down  with  his  load  of  care,  he  sought  relief  in  frank 
speaking.  He  said,  with  great  earnestness,  '  God  knows  that  I 
want  to  do  what  is  wise  and  right,  but  sometimes  it  is  very 
difficult  to  determine.' 

"  He  conversed  freely  of  military  affairs,  but  suddenly  re 
marked,  '  I  am  talking  again  I  Of  course  you  will  remember  that 
I  speak  to  you  only  as  friends ;  that  none  of  this  must  be  put 
in  print.' 

"  Touching  an  attack  upon  Charleston,  which  had  long  been 
contemplated,  he  said  that  Du  Pont  had  promised  some  weeks 


700  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

before,  if  certain  supplies  were  furnished,  to  make  the  assault 
upon  a  given  day.  The  supplies  were  promptly  forwarded,  the 
day  came  and  went  without  any  intelligence.  Some  time  after, 
he  sent  an  officer  to  "Washington,  asking  for  three  more  iron 
clads  and  a  large  quantity  of  deck-plating  as  indispensable  to 
the  preparations. 

" '  I  told  the  officer  to  say  to  Commodore  Du  Pont,'  observed 
Mr.  Lincoln,  'that  I  fear  he  does  not  appreciate  at  all,  the 
value  of  time.' 

"  We  inquired  about  the  progress  of  the  Vicksburg  campaign. 
Our  armies  were  on  a  long  expedition  up  the  Yazoo  Eiver, 
designing,  by  digging  canals  and  threading  bayous,  to  get  in  the 
rear  of  the  city  and  cut  off  its  supplies.  Mr.  Lincoln  said : 

" '  Of  course,  men  who  are  in  command  and  on  the  spot, 
know  a  great  deal  more  than  I  do.  But  immediately  in  front 
of  Yicksburg,  where  the  river  is  a  mile  wide,  the  rebels  plant 
batteries,  which  absolutely  stop  our  entire  fleet;  therefore,  it 
does  seem  to  me  that  upon  narrow  streams  like  the  Yazoo, 
Yallabusa  and  Tallahatchie,  not  wide  enough  for  a  long  boat  to 
turn  around  in,  if  any  of  our  steamers  which  go  there  ever 
come  back,  there  must  be  some  mistake  about  it.  If  the  enemy 
permits  them  to  survive,  it  must  be  either  through  lack  of 
enterprise  or  lack  of  sense.' 

"  A  few  months  later,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  able  to  announce  to 
the  nation  :  '  The  Father  of  Waters  again  flows  unvexed  to  the 
sea.' 

•  "  Our  interview  left  no  grotesque  recollections  of  the  Presi 
dent's  lounging,  his  huge  hands  and  feet,  great  mouth  or  angular 
features.  We  remembered,  rather,  the  ineffable  tenderness 
which  shone  through  his  gentle  eyes,  his  childlike  ingenuous 
ness,  his  utter  integrity,  and  his  absorbing  love  of  country. 

"Ignorant  of  etiquette  and  conventionalities,  without  the 
graces  of  form  or  of  manner,  his  great  reluctance  to  give  pain, 
his  beautiful  regard  for  the  feelings  of  others,  made  him 

'  Worthy  to  bear  without  reproach, 
The  grand  old  name  of  Gentleman.' " 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  701 

REMINISCENCES  OF  PRESIDENT   LINCOLN  BY  AN   OLD  ASSOCIATE 

AND  FRIEND. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Bar  of  Chicago,  held  on  the  17th, 
to  take  appropriate  action  with  regard  to  the  national 
affliction,  Mr.  U.  F.  Linder,  one  of  the  leading  Demo 
crats  of  Illinois,  delivered  an  eloquent  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  the  departed  President.  Mr.  Linder  had 
known  Mr.  Lincoln  intimately  from  boyhood.  Both 
were  born  near  the  same  place  in  Kentucky ;  they  had 
removed  to  Illinois  at  nearly  the  same  time ;  had  prac 
tised  law  together,  and  for  many  years  were  warm 
hearted  friends.  The  reminiscences  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
which  Mr.  Linder  narrated  in  his  remarks,  were  affect 
ing  beyond  account,  and  more  than  one,  as  he  listened 
to  the  tremulous  tones  of  the  speaker,  was  visibly  moved 
to  tears.  He  said  : 

"  I  feel  I  cannot  let  this  occasion  go  by  without  laying  a 
tribute — an  humble  tribute — of  mine  upon  the  grave  of  him 
whom  I  so  long  since  learned  to  love.  It  is  but  little  I  can  say 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  because  all  of  his  life  and  character  has 
become  as  household  words,  and  was  perhaps  better  known 
than  any  other  man,  alive  or  dead. 

"It  was  my  lot  fortunately  to  know  Abraham  Lincoln  before 
he  was  known  to  the  nation.  I  knew  him,  or  became  ac 
quainted  with  him,  about  or  a  little  before  the  commencement  of 
his  career  as  a  lawyer  and  a  public  man.  I  was  introduced  to 
him  at  the  hotel  in  Charleston,  in  this  State,  in  the  year  1835. 
He  was  dressed  in  a  plain  suit  of  jean,  and  looked  like  a  quiet, 
unassuming  farmer.  There  struck  me  then,  more  than  any 
thing  else  in  the  man,  the  expression  of  goodness  and  kindness 
which  gleamed  in  his  eyes,  and  which  sat  there  all  the  days  of 
his  life ;  and  it  has  seemed  to  me  a  hundred  times  since  I  heard 
of  his  assassination,  that  no  man  could  have  looked  in  his  face 
and  assassinated  him.  There  was  too  much  that  commanded 


702  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

respect  and  too  much  of  mercy  for  any  man  facing  him  to  do 
him  harm.  Wherever  he  came  he  brought  sunshine.  All  men 
hailed  him  as  an  addition  to  their  circle.  He  was  genial ;  he 
was  humorous ;  he  was  clear  in  the  expression  of  his  senti 
ments  ;  he  was  honest.  But  in  all  his  career,  in  all  his  humor, 
there  was  nothing  that  ever  came  from  him  that  planted  a  thorn 
or  a  dagger  in  any  man's  heart. 

"  I  have  known  him  intimately  since  I  came  to  the  State  of 
Illinois.  I  knew  his  father  and  his  relatives  in  Kentucky. 
They  were  a  good  family.  They  were  poor,  and  the  very 
poorest  people,  I  might  say,  of  the  middle  classes,  but  they  were 
true.  No  man  who  has  known  Lincoln  as  a  friend,  as  I  have 
known  him,  was  ever  afraid  to  call  upon  him  for  his  aid,  or  was 
ever  afraid  to  ask  of  him  a  kindness." 

The  speaker,  much  moved  with  emotion,  then  referred 
to  an  incident  of  his  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Lincoln, 
when,  a  son  of  his  being  in  difficulty  growing  out  of  a 
homicide,  he  had  occasion  to  test  the  friendship  of  the 
late  President.  He  said  : 

"On  that  occasion  many  seemed  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
opportunity  to  wreak  vengeance  upon  me  in  the  death  of  my 
son.  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  I  was  in  a  quarter  of  the  country 
where  I  knew  he  was  a  tower  of  strength ;  where  his  name 
raised  up  friends  ;  where  his  arguments  at  law  had  more  power 
than  the  instructions  of  the  Court.  I  feared,  many  of  his  politi 
cal  friends  being  united  against  my  son,  that  his  services  and 
his  talents  might  be  enlisted  against  him.  I  wrote  to  him, 
giving  him  all  the  circumstances,  telling  him  of  my  wife's  grief 
and  my  own,  and  soliciting  that  he  would  come  and  assist  me 
to  defend  my  son ;  that  I  thought  he  had  been  employed  against 
him.  I  preserved  his  letter  for  a  long  time ;  I  wish  I  had  it 
now ;  I  should  rejoice  in  its  possession ;  I  would  work  hard  to 
obtain  the  means  to  frame  it  in  gold.  The  sum  of  it  was  this : 
lie  condoled  with  me  and  my  wife  in  our  misfortune,  and 


REMINISCENCES  AND  ANECDOTES.  703 

assured  us  that,  no  matter  what  business  lie  might  be  engaged 
in,  he  would  come,  and  he  was  truly  sorry  that  I  had  supposed 
that  he  would  take  part  in  the  prosecution  of  the  son  of  a  friend 
of  his.  I  had  offered  him  a  fee,  and  in  that  letter  he  also  said 
he  knew  of  no  act  of  his  life  that  would  justify  me  in  supposing 
that  he  would  take  money  from  me  or  any  dear  friends  for 
assisting  in  the  defence  of  the  life  of  a  child. 

"  I  wish  to  say  that  his  friendship  to  me  has  continued  up  to 
a  recent  period.  It  was  the  fortune  of  the  same  son  to  move 
south  before  this  rebellion  broke  out.  By  some  means,  he 
was  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  rebel  army.  My  friends  here 
know,  as  you  judges,  who  sit  upon  the  bench  know,  that  I 
called  upon  them  to  unite  with  me  in  adding  your  influence  to* 
mine  to  prevail  upon  President  Lincoln  to  induce  him  to  release 
my  boy  from  prison.  He  was  captured  a  year  and  a  half  ago. 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  so  without  any  hesitation,  and  he  took  the 
pains — it  was  the  day  before  Christmas  a  year  ago,  and  it  made 
my  home  happy — to  telegraph  me  of  the  fact,  which  he  stated 
(he  always  said  things  short,  as  he  said,  I  believe,  things  better 
than  anybody  else,)  in  his  usual  manner.  He  said  to  me: 
'  Your  son  has  just  left  me  with  my  order  to  the  Secretary  of 
War  to  administer  the  oath  of  allegiance.  I  send  him  home 
to  you  and  his  mother.'  I  wish  I  had  his  telegram  here.  The 
mother  of  my  boy  still  preserves  it,  and  I  left  it  to-day  to  be 
framed  in  the  most  gorgeous  style  my  means  will  afford."  *  * 

The  following  interesting  reminiscences  of  the  late 
President  are  from  Harper's  Magazine,  and  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  Noah  Brooks,  who  was  to  have  been  Mr. 
Lincoln's  private  secretary : 

HIS   SIMPLICITY  AND  AETLESSNESS   OF    CHARACTER. 

"  All  persons  agree  that  the  most  marked  characteristic  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  manners  was  his  simplicity  and  artlessness  ;  this 
immediately  impressed  itself  upon  the  observation  of  those 
who  met  him  for  the  first  time,  and  each  successive  interview 


704  THE  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

.*r 

deepened  the  impression.  People  seemed  delighted  to  find  in 
the  ruler  of  the  nation  freedom  from  pomposity  and  affectation, 
mingled  with  a  certain  simple  dignity  which  never  forsook  him. 
Though  oppressed  with  the  weight  of  responsibility  resting 
upon  him  as  President  of  the  United  States,  he  shrunk  from 
assuming  any  of  the  honors,  or  even  the  titles,  of  the  position. 
After  years  of  intimate  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Lincoln  the 
writer  cannot  now  recall  a  single  instance  in  which  he  spoke  of 
himself  as  President,  or  used  that  title  for  himself,  except  when 
acting  in  an  official  capacity.  He  always  spoke  of  his  position 
and  office  vaguely,  as  'this  place,'  'here,'  or  other  modest 
phrase.  Once,  speaking  of  the  room  in  the  Capitol  used  by 
the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  during  the  close  of  a  session 
of  Congress,  he  said,  '  That  room,  you  know,  that  they  call' — 
dropping  his  voice  and  hesitating — '  the  President's  room.'  To 
an  intimate  friend  who  addressed  him  always  by  his  own  pro 
per  title  he  said,  '  Now  call  me  Lincoln,  and  I'll  promise  not  to 
tell  of  the  breach  of  etiquette — if  you  won't — and  I  shall  have 
a  resting-spell  from  '  Mister  President.'  ': 

HIS  NATIVE   DIGNITY. 

"  With  all  his  simplicity  and  unacquaintance  with  courtly 
manners,  his  native  dignity  never  forsook  him  in  the  presence 
of  critical  or  polished  strangers  ;  but  mixed  with  his  angulari 
ties  and  bonhomie  was  something  which  spoke  the  fine  fibre  of 
the  man ;  and,  while  his  sovereign  disregard  of  courtly  conven 
tionalities  was  somewhat  ludicrous,  his  native  sweetness  and 
straightforwardness  of  manner  served  to  disarm  criticism,  and 
impress  the  visitor  that  he  was  before  a  man  pure,  self-poised, 
collected,  and  strong  in  unconscious  strength.  Of  him  an 
accomplished  foreigner,  whose  knowledge  of  the  courts  was 
more  perfect  than  that  of  the  English  language,  said,  '  He  seems 
to  me  one  grand  gentilhomme  in  disguise.'  " 

HIS   DESIRE  FOR  KNOWLEDGE. 

'  In  his  eagerness  to  acquire  knowledge  of  common  things 
he  sometimes  surprised  his  distinguished  visitors  by  inquiries 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  705 

about  matters  that  they  were  supposed  to  be  acquainted  with, 
and  those  who  came  to  scrutinize  went  away  with  a  vague  sense 
of  having  been  unconsciously  pumped  by  the  man  whom  they 
expected  to  pump.  One  Sunday  evening  last  winter,  while 
sitting  alone  with  the  President,  the  cards  of  Professor  Agassiz 
and  a  friend  were  sent  in.  The  President  had  never  met  Agas- 
siz  at  that  time,  I  believe,  and  said,  '  I  would  like  to  talk  with 
that  man  ;  he  is  a  good  man,  I  do  believe  ;  don't  you  think  so  ?' 
But  one  answer  could  be  returned  to  the  query,  and  soon  after 
the  visitors  were  shown  in,  the  President  first  whispering,  '  Now 
sit  still,  and  see  what  we  can  pick  up  that's  new.'  To  my  sur 
prise,  however,  no  questions  were  asked  about  the  Old  Silurian, 
the  Glacial  Theory,  or  the  Great  Snow-storm,  but,  introductions 
being  over,  the  President  said  :  '  I  never  knew  how  to  properly 
pronounce  your  name ;  won't  you  give  me  a  little  lesson  at 
that,  please  ?'  Then  he  asked  if  it  were  of  French  or  Swiss 
derivation,  to  which  the  Professor  replied  that  it  was  partly  of 
each.  That  led  to  a  discussion  of  different  languages,  the  Pre 
sident  speaking  of  several  words  in  different  languages  which 
had  the  same  root  as  similar  words  in  our  own  tongue ;  then  he 
illustrated  that  by  one  or  two  anecdotes,  one  of  which  he  bor 
rowed  from  Hood's  '  Up  the  Rhine.'  But  he  soon  returned  to 
his  gentle  cross-examination  of  Agassiz,  and  found  out  how  the 
Professor  studied,  how  he  composed,  and  how  he  delivered  his 
lectures ;  how  he  found  different  tastes  in  his  audiences  in  differ 
ent  portions  of  the  country.  When  afterwards  asked  why  he 
put  such  questions  to  his  learned  visitor  he  said, '  Why,  what  we 
got  from  him  isn't  printed  in  the  books ;  the  other  things  are.' " 

HIS   MODESTY. 

"  The  simplicityof  manner  which  shone  out  in  all  such  inter 
views  as  that  here  noticed  was  marked  in  his  total  lack  of  con 
sideration  of  what  was  due  his  exalted  station.  He  had  an 
almost  morbid  dread  of  what  he  called  '  a  scene' — that  is,  a 
demonstration  of  applause  such  as  always  greeted  his  appear 
ance  in  public.  The  first  sign  of  a  cheer  sobered  him  ;  he  ap- 
45 


706  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

peared  sad  and  oppressed,  suspended  conversation,  and  looked 
out  into  vacancy  ;  and  when  it  was  over  resumed  the  conversa 
tion  just  where  it  was  interrupted,  with  an  obvious  feeling  of 
relief.  Of  the  relations  of  a  Senator  to  him  he  said,  '  I  think 
that  Senator  —  — 's  manner  is  more  cordial  to  me  than  before.' 
The  truth  was  the  Senator  had  been  looking  for  a  sign  of  cordi 
ality  from  his  superior,  but  the  President  had  reversed  their 
relative  positions.  At  another  time,  speaking  of  an  early 
acquaintance,  who  was  an  applicant  for  an  office  which  he 
thought  him  hardly  qualified  to  fill,  the  President  said,  '  Well, 
now,  I  never  thought  M—  -  had  any  more  than  average  ability 
when  we.  were  young  men  together ;  really  I  did  not' — a  pause. 
• — 'But,  then,  I  suppose  he  thought  just  the  same  about  me  ; 
he  had  reason  to,  and — here  I  am  !'  " 

HIS   PERSONAL   FEARLESSNESS   OF   DANGER. 

"  The  simple  habits  of  Mr.  Lincoln  were  so  well  known  that 
it  is  a  subject  for  surprise  that  watchful  and  malignant  treason 
did  not  sooner  take  that  precious  life  which  he  seemed  to  hold 
so  lightly.  He  had  an  almost  morbi'd  dislike  for  an  escort,  or 
guard,  and  daily  exposed  himself  to  the  deadly  aim  of  an  assas 
sin.  One  summer  morning,  passing  by  the  White  House  at  an 
early  hour,  I  saw  the  President  standing  at  the  gateway,  look 
ing  anxiously  down  the  street ;  and,  in  reply  to  a  salutation,  he 
said,  '  Good-morning,  good-morning !  I  am  looking  for  a  news 
boy  ;  when  you  get  to  that  corner  I  wish  you  would  start  one 
up  this  way.'  There  are  American  citizens  who  consider  such 
things  beneath  the  dignity  of  an  official  in  high  place. 

"In  reply  to  the  remonstrances  of  friends,  who  were  afraid 
of  his  constant  exposure  to  danger,  he  had  but  one  answer :  '  If 
they  kill  me,  the  next  man  will  be  just  as  bad  for  them  ;  and  in 
a  country  like  this,  where  our  habits  are  simple,  and  must  be, 
assassination  is  always  possible,  and  will  come  if  they  are 
determined  upon  it.'  A  cavalry  guard  was  once  placed  at  the 
gates  of  the  White  House  for  a  while,  and  he  said,  privately, 
that  he  'worried  until  he  got  rid  of  it.'  While  the  President's 


REMINJSCEXSES    AND    ANECDOTES.  707 

family  were  at  their  summer-house,  near  Washington,  he  rode 
into  town  of  a  morning,  or  out  at  night,  attended  by  a  mounted 
escort ;  but  if  he  returned  to  town  for  a  while  after  dark,  he 
rode  in  unguarded,  and  often  alone,  in  his  open  carriage.  On 
more  than  one  occasion  the  writer  has  gone  through  the  streets 
of  Washington  at  a  late  hour  of  the  night  with  the  President, 
without  an  escort,  or  even  the  company  of  a  servant,  walking  all 
of  the  way,  going  and  returning. 

"  Considering  the  many  open  and  secret  threats  to  take  his 
life,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  many  thoughts 
about  his  coming  to  a  sudden  and  violent  end.  He  once  said 
that  he  felt  the  force  of  the  expression,  '  To  take  one's  life  in  his 
hand,'  but  that  he  would  not  like  to  face  death  suddenly.  He 
said  that  he  thought  himself  a  great  coward  physically,  and  was 
sure  that  he  should  make  a  poor  soldier,  for,  unless  there  was 
something  in  the  excitement  of  a  battle,  he  was  sure  that  he 
would  drop  his  gun  and  run  at  the  first  symptom  of  danger. 
That  was  said  sportively,  and  he  added,  '  Moral  cowardice  is 
something  which  I  think  I  never  had.'  Shortly  after  the  Pre 
sidential  election,  in  1864,  he  related  an  incident  which  I  will  try 
to  put  upon  paper  here,  as  nearly  as  possible  in  his  own  words  : 

"  'It  was  just  after  my  election  in  1860,  when  the  news  had 
been  coming  in  thick  and  fast  all  day,  and  there  had  been  a 
great  "  Hurrah,  boys !"  so  that  I  was  well  tired  out,  and  went 
home  to  rest,  throwing  myself  down  on  a  lounge  in  my  cham 
ber.  Opposite  where  I  lay  was  a  bureau,  with  a  swinging-glass 
upon  it' — (and  here  he  got  up  and  placed  furniture  to  illustrate 
the  position) — '  and,  looking  in  that  glass,  I  saw  myself  reflected, 
nearly  at  full  length  ;  but  my  face,  I  noticed,  had  two  separate 
and  distinct  images,  the  tip  of  the  nose  of  one  being  about  three 
inches  from  the  tip  of  the  other.  I  was  a  little  bothered,  per 
haps  startled,  and  got  up  and  looked  in  the  glass,  but  the  illu 
sion  vanished.  On  laying  down  again  I  saw  it  a  second  time — 
plainer,  if  possible,  than  before ;  and  then  I  noticed  that  one 
of  the  faces  was  a  little  paler,  say  five  shades,  than  the  other. 


708  THE   LITE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

I  got  up  and  the  thing  melted  away,  and  I  went  off,  and,  in  the 
excitement  of  the  hour,  forgot  all  about  it — nearly,  but  not 
quite,  for  the  thing  would  once  in  a  while  come  up,  and  give 
me  a  little  pang,  as  though  something  uncomfortable  had  hap 
pened.  When  I  went  home  I  told  my  -wife  about  it,  and  a  few 
days  after  I  tried  the  experiment  again,  when  [with  a  laugh], 
sure  enough,  the  thing  came  again  ;  but  I  never  succeeded  in 
bringing  the  ghost  back  after  that,  though  I  once  tried  very 
industriously  to  show  it  to  my  wife,  who  was  worried  about  it 
somewhat.  She  thought  it  was  a  sign  that  I  was  to  be  elected  to 
a  second  term  of  office,  and  that  the  paleness  of  one  of  the  faces 
was  an  omen  that  I  should  not  see  life  through  the  last  term.' 

"  The  President,  with  his  usual  good  sense,  saw  nothing  in 
all  this  but  an  optical  illusion;  though  the  flavor  of  super 
stition  which  hangs  about  every  man's  composition,  made  him 
wish  that  he  had  never  seen  it.  But  there  are  people  who  will 
now  believe  that  this  odd  coincidence  was  '  a  warning.' " 

HTS   KINDNESS   OF   HEAKT. 

"  He  was  often  waylaid  by  soldiers  importunate  to  get  their 
back-pay,  or  a  furlough,  or  a  discharge;  and  if  the  case  was 
not  too  complicated,  would  attend  to  it  then  and  there.  Going 
out  of  the  main  door  of  the  White  House  one  morning,  he  met 
an  old  lady  who  was  pulling  vigorously  at  the  door-bell,  and 
asked  her  what  she  wanted.  She  said  that  she  wanted  to  see 
'  Abraham  the  Second.'  The  President,  amused,  asked  who 
Abraham  the  First  might  be,  if  there  was  a  second  ?  The  old 
lady  replied,  '  Why,  Lor'  bless  you !  we  read  about  the  first 
Abraham  in  the  Bible,  and  Abraham  the  Second  is  our 
President.'  She  was  told  that  the  President  was  not  in  his 
office  then,  and  when  she  asked  where  he  was,  she  was  told, 
'  Here  he  is !'  Nearly  petrified  with  surprise,  the  old  lady 
managed  to  tell  her  errand,  and  was  told  to  come  next  morning 
at  nine  o'clock,  when  she  was  received  and  kindly  cared  for  by 
the  President.  At  another  time,  hearing  of  a  young  man  who 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  709 

had  determined  to  enter  the  navy  as  a  landsman,  after  three 
years  of  service  in  the  army;  he  said  to  the  writer,  '  Now  do 
you  go  over  to  the  Navy  Department  and  mouse  out  what  he 
is  fit  for,  and  he  shall  have  it,  if  it's  to  be  had,  for  that's  the 
kind  of  men  I  like  to  near  of.'  The  place  was  duly  '  moused 
out,'  with  the  assistance  of  the  kind-hearted  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Navy ;  and  the  young  officer,  who  may  read  these  lines 
on  his  solitary  post  off  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  river,  was 
appointed  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  Of  an  application  for  office  by  an  old  friend, 
not  fit  for  the  place  he  sought,  he  said,  '  I  had  rather  resign  my 
place  and  go  away  from  here  than  refuse  him,  if  I  consulted 
only  my  personal  feelings;  but  refuse  him  I  must.'  And  he 
did. 

"This  same  gentleness,  mixed  with  firmness,  characterized 
all  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  dealings  with  public  men.  Often  bitterly 
assailed  and  abused,  he  never  appeared  to  recognize  the  fact 
that  he  had  political  enemies ;  and  if  his  attention  was  called  to 
unkind  speeches  or  remarks,  he  would  turn  the  conversation  of 
his  indignant  friends  by  a  judicious  story,  or  the  remark,  'I 
guess  we  won't  talk  about  that  now.'  He  has  himself  put  it  on 
record,  that  he  never  read  attacks  upon  himself,  and  if  they 
were  brought  persistently  before  him,  he  had  some  ready 
excuse  for  their  authors.  Of  a  virulent  personal  attack  upon 
his  official  conduct,  he  mildly  said  that  it  was  ill-timed ;  and  of 
one  of  his  most  bitter  political  enemies  he  said:  'I've  been 
told  that  insanity  is  hereditary  in  his  family,  and  I  think 
we  will  admit  the  plea  in  his  case.'  It  was  noticeable  that  Mr. 
Lincoln's  keenest  critics  and  bitter  opponents  studiously  avoided 
his  presence ;  it  seemed  as  though  no  man  could  be  familiar 
with  his  homely,  heart-lighted  features,  his  single-hearted 
directness  and  manly  kindliness,  and  remain  long  an  enemy,  or 
be  any  thing  but  his  friend.  It  was  this  warm  frankness  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  manner  that  made  a  hard-headed  old  'hunker' 
once  leave  the  hustings  where  Lincoln  was  speaking,  in  1856, 


710  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

saying,  '  I  won't  hear  him,  for  I  don't  like  a  man  that  makes  me 
believe  in  him  in  spite  of  myself.' " 

HIS   HONESTY. 

" '  Honest  Old  Abe'  has  passed  into  the  language  of  our  time 
and  country  as  a  synonym  for  all  that  is  just  and  honest  in 
man.  Yet  thousands  of  instances,  unknown  to  the  world, 
might  be  added  to  those  already  told  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  great 
and  crowning  virtue.  He  disliked  inuendoes,  concealments, 
and  subterfuges ;  and  no  sort  of  approach  at  official  'jobbing' 
ever  had  any  encouragement  from  him.  With  him  the  question 
was  not,  '  Is  it  convenient  ?  Is  it  expedient  ?'  but,  l  Is  it  right  ?' 
He  steadily  discountenanced  all  practices  of  government  officers 
using  any  part  of  the  public  funds  for  temporary  purposes ; 
and  he  loved  to  tell  of  his  own  experience  when  he  was  saved 
from  embarrassment  by  his  rigid  adherence  to  a  good  rule.  He 
had  been  postmaster  at  Salem,  Illinois,  during  Jackson's  ad 
ministration,  William  T.  Barry  being  then  Postmaster-General, 
and  resigning  his  office,  removed  to  Springfield,  having  sent  a 
statement  of  account  to  the  Department  at  Washington.  No 
notice  was  taken  of  his  account,  which  showed  a  balance  due 
the  government  of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  until 
three  or  four  years  after,  when,  Amos  Kendall  being  Post 
master-General,  he  was  presented  with  a  draft  for  the  amount 
due.  Some  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  friends,  who  knew  that  he  was  in 
straitened  circumstances  then,  as  he  had  always  been,  heard  of 
the  draft,  and  offered  to  help  him  out  with  a  loan ;  but  he  told 
them  not  to  worry,  and  producing  from  his  trunk  an  old 
pocket,  tied  up  and  marked,  counted  out  in  sixpences,  shillings 
and  quarters,  the  exact  sum  required  of  him,  in  the  identical 
coin  received  by  him  while  in  office  years  before. 

"The  honesty  of  Mr.  Lincoln  appeared  to  spring  from  religious 
convictions,  and  it  was  his  habit,  when  conversing  of  things 
which  most  intimately  concerned  himself,  to  say  that,  however 
he  might  be  misapprehended  by  men  who  did  not  appear 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  711 

to  know  him,  he  was  glad  to  know  that  no  thought  or  intent  of 
his  escaped  the  observation  of  that  Judge  by  whose  final 
decree  be  expected  to  stand  or  fall  in  this  world  and  the  next. 
It  seemed  as  though  this  was  his  surest  refuge  at  times  when  he 
was  most  misunderstood  or  misrepresented.  There  was  some 
thing  touching  in  his  child-like  and  simple  reliance  upon 
Divine  aid,  especially  when  in  such  extremities  as  he  sometimes 
fell  into ;  then,  though  prayer  and  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
was  his  constant  habit,  he  more  earnestly  than  ever  sought  that 
strength  which  is  promised  when  mortal  help  faileth.  His 
address  upon  the  occasion  of  his  re-inauguration  has  been  said 
to  be  as  truly  a  religious  document  as  a  state  paper ;  and  his 
acknowledgment  of  God  and  his  providence  and  rule,  are 
interwoven  through  all  of  his  later  speeches,  letters  and  mes 
sages.  Once  he  said :  '  I  have  been  driven  many  times  upon 
my  knees  by  the  overwhelming  conviction  that  I  had  nowhere 
else  to  go.  My  own  wisdom  and  that  of  all  about  me,  seemed 
insufficient  for  that  day.' 

"Just  after  the  last  Presidential  election,  he  said:  'Being 
only  mortal,  after  all,  I  should  have  been  a  little  mortified  if  I 
had  been  beaten  in  this  canvass  before  the  people ;  but  that 
sting  would  have  been  more  than  compensated  by  the  thought 
that  the  people  had  notified  me  that  all  my  official  responsi 
bilities  were  soon  to  be  lifted  off  my  back.'  In  reply  to  the 
remark  that  he  might  remember  that  in  all  these  cares  he  was 
daily  remembered  by  those  who  prayed,  not  to  be  heard 
of  men,  as  no  man  had  ever  before  been  remembered,  he  caught 
at  the  homely  phrase  and  said :  '  Yes.  I  like  that  phrase,  "  not  to 
be  heard  of  men,"  and  guess  it's  generally  true,  as  you  say ;  at 
least  I  have  been  told  so,  and  I  have  been  a  good  deal  helped  by 
just  that  thought.'  Then  he  solemnly  and  slowly  added:  'I  should 
be  the  most  presumptuous  blockhead  upon  this  footstool,  if  I  for 
one  day  thought  that  T  could  discharge  the  duties  which  have 
come  upon  me  since  I  came  into  this  place,  without  the  aid  and 
enlightenment  of  One  who  is  wiser  and  stronger  than  all  others.' 


712  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"  At  another  time  he  said,  cheerfully,  '  I  am  very  sure  that 
if  T  do  not  go  away  from  here  a  wiser  man,  I  shall  go  away  a 
better  man,  for  having  learned  here  what  a  very  poor  sort  of  a 
man  I  am.'  Afterward,  referring  to  what  he  called  a  change 
of  heart,  he  said  that  he  did  not  remember  any  precise  time 
when  he  passed  through  any  special  change  of  purpose  or  of 
heart ;  but  he  would  say  that  his  own  election  to  office,  and  the 
crisis  immediately  following,  influentially  determined  him  in 
what  he  called  '  a  process  of  crystallization,'  then  going  on  in 
his  mind.  Eeticent  as  he  was,  and  shy  of  discoursing  much  of 
his  own  mental  exercises,  these  few  utterances  now  have  a  value 
with  those  who  knew  him  which  his  dying  words  would 
scarcely  have  possessed. 

"No  man  but  Mr.  Lincoln  ever  knew  how  great  was  the 
load  of  care  which  he  bore,  nor  the  amount  of  mental  labor 
which  he  daily  accomplished.  With  the  usual  perplexities  of 
the  office — greatly  increased  by  the  unusual  multiplication  of 
places  in  his  gift — he  carried  the  burdens  of  the  civil  war, 
which  he  always  called  'This  great  trouble.'  Though  the 
intellectual  man  had  greatly  grown  meantime,  few  persons 
would  recognize  the  hearty,  blithesome,  genial,  and  wiry 
Abraham  Lincoln  of  earlier  days,  in  the  sixteenth  President  of 
the  United  States,  with  his  stooping  figure,  dull  eyes,  care-worn 
face,  and  languid  frame.  The  old,  clear  laugh  never  came 
back ;  the  even  temper  was  sometimes  disturbed ;  and  his 
natural  charity  for  all  was  often  turned  into  an  unwonted  sus 
picion  of  the  motives  of  men,  whose  selfishness  cost  him  so 
much  wear  of  mind.  Once  he  said,  'Sitting  here,  where 
all  the  avenues  to  public  patronage  seem  to  come  together  in  a 
knot,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  our  people  are  fast  approaching 
the  point  where  it  can  be  said  that  seven-eighths  of  them  were 
trying  to  find  how  to  live  at  the  expense  of  the  other  eighth.' 

"  It  was  this  incessant  demand  upon  his  time,  by  men  who 
sought  place  or  endeavored  to  shape  his  policy,  that  broke 
down  his  courage  and  his  temper,  as  well  as  exhausted  his 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  713 

strength.  Speaking  of  the  'great  flood-gates'  which  his  doors 
daily  opened  upon  him,  he  said,  'I  suppose  I  ought  not  to 
blame  the  aggregate,  for  each  abstract  man  or  woman  thinks 
his  or  her  case  a  peculiar  one,  and  must  be  attended  to,  though 
all  others  be  left  out ;  but  I  can  see  this  thing  growing  every 
day.'  And  at  another  time,  speaking  of  the  exhaustive  de 
mands  upon  him,  which  left  him  in  no  condition  for  more 
important  duties,  he  said,  '  I  sometimes  fancy  that  every  one  of 
the  numerous  grist  ground  through  here  daily,  from  a  Senator 
seeking  a  war  with  France  down  to  a  poor  woman  after  a  place 
in  the  Treasury  Department,  darted  at  me  with  thumb  and 
finger,  picked  out  their  especial  piece  of  my  vitality,  and 
carried  it  off.  When  I  get  through  with  such  a  day's  work 
there  is  only  one  word  which  can  express  my  condition,  and 
that  is — flabbiness?  There  are  some  public  men  who  can  now 
remember,  with  self-reproaches,  having  increased  with  long 
evening  debates  that  reducing  'flabbiness'  of  the  much-enduring 
President." 

INCIDENTS   OF   HIS    VISIT   TO   THE   ARMY   OF    THE   POTOMAC. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  the  spring 
of  1863,  and,  free  from  the  annoyances  of  office,  was  consider 
ably  refreshed  and  rested ;  but  even  there  the  mental  anxieties 
which  never  forsook  him  seemed  to  cast  him  down,  at  times, 
with  a  great  weight.  We  left  Washington  late  in  the  afternoon, 
and  a  snow-storm  soon  after  coming  on,  the  steamer  was  an 
chored  for  the  night  off  Indian  Head,  on  the  Maryland  shore 
of  the  Potomac.  The  President  left  the  little  knot  in  the  cabin, 
and  sitting  alone  in  a  corner,  seemed  absorbed  in  the  saddest 
reflections  for  a  time ;  then,  beckoning  a  companion  to  him, 
said,  '  What  will  you  wager  that  half  our  iron-clads  are  at  the 
bottom  of  Charleston  harbor  ?'  This  being  the  first  intimation 
which  the  other  had  had  of  Dupont's  attack,  which  was  then 
begun,  hesitated  to  reply,  when  the  President  added,  '  The 
people  will  expect  big  things  when  they  hear  of  this ;  but  it  is 
too  late — too  late  /' 


714  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

"During  that  little  voyage  the  captain  of  the  steamer,  a  frank, 
modest  old  sailor,  was  so  much  affected  by  the  care-worn  ap 
pearance  of  the  President,  that  he  came  to  the  writer  and  con 
fessed  that  he  had  received  the  same  impression  of  the  chief 
magistrate  that  many  had ;  hearing  of  his  '  little  stories  '  and  his 
humor,  he  had  supposed  him  to  have  no  cares  or  sadness ;  but 
a  sight  of  that  anxious  and  sad  face  had  undeceived  him,  and 
he  wanted  to  tell  the  President  how  much  he  had  unintention 
ally  wronged  him,  feeling  that  he  had  committed  upon  him  a 
personal  wrong.  The  captain  was  duly  introduced  to  the  Pres 
ident,  who  talked  to  him  privately  for  a  space,  being  touched 

as  well  as  amused  at  what  he  called  '  Captain  M 's  freeing 

his  mind.' 

"  The  following  week,  spent  in  riding  about  and  seeing  the 
army,  appeared  to  revive  Mr.  Lincoln's  spirits  and  to  rest  his 
body.  A  friend  present  observed  as  much  to  him,  and  he 
replied,  '  Well,  yes,  I  do  feel  some  better,  I  think ;  but, 
somehow,  it  don't  appear  to  touch  the  tired  spot,  which  can't  be 
got  at.' 

"  Another  reminiscence  of  his  early  life,  which  he  recalled 
during  the  trip,  was  one  concerning  his  experience  in  rail-split 
ting.  We  were  driving  through  an  open  clearing,  where  the 
Virginia  forest  had  been  felled  by  the  soldiers,  when  Mr.  Lincoln 
observed,  looking  at  the  stumps,  '  That's  a  good  job  of  felling ; 
they  have  got  some  good  axemen  in  this  army,  I  see.'  The 
conversation  turning  upon  his  knowledge  of  rail- splitting,  he 
said,  '  Now  let  me  tell  you  about  that.  I  am  not  a  bit  anxious 
about  my  reputation  in  that  line  of  business ;  but  if  there  is 
any  thing  in  this  world  that  I  am  a  judge  of,  it  is  of  good  felling 
of  timber,  but  I  don't  remember  having  worked  by  myself  at 
splitting  rails  for  one  whole  day  in  my  life.'  Upon  surprise  being 
expressed  that  his  national  reputation  as  a  rail-splitter  should 
have  so  slight  a  foundation,  he  said,  'I  recollect  that,  some  time 
during  the  canvass  for  the  office  I  now  hold,  there  was  a  great 
mass  meeting,  where  I  was  present,  and  with  a  great  flourish 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  715 

several  rails  were  brought  into  the  meeting,  and  being  informed 
where  they  came  from,  I  was  asked  to  identify  them,  which  I 
did,  with  some  qualms  of  conscience,  having  helped  my  father 
to  split  rails,  as  at  other  odd  jobs.  I  said  if  there  were  any 
rails  which  I  had  split,  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  those  were  the 
rails.'  Those  who  may  be  disappointed  to  learn  of  Mr.  Lincoln''s 
limited  experience  in  splitting  rails,  may  be  relieved  to  know 
that  he  was  evidently  proud  of  his  knowledge  of  the  art  of  cutting 
timber,  and  explained  minutely  how  a  good  job  differed  from 
a  poor  one,  giving  illustrations  from  the  ugly  stumps  on  either 
side." 

ABSENCE   OF   MIND. 

"  An  amusing  yet  touching  instance  of  the  President's  pre 
occupation  of  mind  occurred  at  one.  of  his  levees,  when  he  was 
shaking  hands  with  a  host  of  visitors,  passing  him  in  a  contin 
uous  stream.  An  intimate  acquaintance  received  the  usual 
conventional  hand -shake  and  salutation  ;  but,  perceiving  that 
he  was  not  recognized,  kept  his  ground,  instead  of  moving  on, 
and  spoke  again  ;  when  the  President,  roused  by  a  dim  con 
sciousness  that  something  unusual  had  happened,  perceived 
who  stood  before  him,  and  seizing  his  friend's  hand,  shook  it 
again  heartily,  saying,  '  How  do  you  do  ?  How  do  you  do  ? 
Excuse  me  for  not  noticing  you  at  first ;  the  fact  is,  I  was 
thinking  of  a  man  down  South.'  He  afterward  privately 
acknowledged  that  the  '  man  down  South  '  was  Sherman,  then 
on  his  march  to  the  sea. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  had  not  a  hopeful  temperament,  and,  though 
he  looked  at  the  bright  side  of  things,  was  always  prepared  for 
disaster  and  defeat.  With  his  wonderful  faculty  for  discerning 
results  he  often  saw  success  where  others  saw  disaster,  but  often 
perceived  a  failure  when  others  were  elated  with  victory,  or 
were  temporarily  deceived  by  appearances.  Of  a  great  cavalry 
raid,  which  filled  the  newspapers  with  glowing  exultation,  but 
iailed  to  cut  the  commjinications  which  it  had  been  designed 
to  destroy,  he  briefly  said:  '  That  was  good  circus-riding;  it 


716  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

will  do  to  fill  a  column  in  the  newspapers ;  but  I  don't  see  that 
it  has  brought  any  thing  else  to  pass.'  He  often  said  that  the 
worst  feature  about  newspapers  was  that  they  were  so  sure  to 
be  '  ahead  of  the  hounds,'  outrunning  events,  and  exciting  expec 
tations  which  were  sure  to  be  disappointed.  One  of  the  worst 
effects  of  a  victory,  he  said,  was  to  lead  people  to  expect  that 
the  war  was  about  over  in  consequence  of  it ;  but  he  was  never 
weary  of  commending  the  patience  of  the  American  people, 
which  he  thought  something  matchless  and  touching.  I  have 
seen  him  shed  tears  when  speaking  of  the  cheerful  sacrifice  of 
the  light  and  strength  of  so  many  happy  homes  throughout  the 
land.  His  own  patience  was  marvelous  ;  and,  never  crushed  at 
defeat  or  unduly  excited  by  success,  his  demeanor  under  both 
was  an  example  for  all  men.  Once  he  said  the  keenest  blow 
of  all  the  war  was  at  an  early  stage,  when  the  disaster  of  Ball's 
Bluff  and  the  death  of  his  beloved  Baker  smote  upon  him  like 
a  whirlwind  from  a  desert." 

HE   WATCHES   EVENTS. 

"  His  practice  of  being  controlled  by  events  is  well  known. 
He  often  said  that  it  was  wise  to  wait  for  the  developments  of 
"Providence  ;  and  the  Scriptural  phrase  that  '  the  stars  in  their 
courses  fought  against  Sisera,'  to  him  had  a  depth  of  meaning. 
Then,  too,  he  liked  to  feel  that  he  was  the  attorney  of  the  peo 
ple,  not  their  ruler ;  and  I  believe  that  this  idea  was  generally 
uppermost  in  his  mind.  Speaking  of  the  probability  of  his 
second  nomination,  about  two  years  ago,  he  said:  'If  the  peo 
ple  think  that  I  have  managed  their  case  for  them  well  enough 
to  trust  me  to  carry  up  to  the  next  term,  I  am  sure  that  I  shall 
be  glad  to  take  it.'  " 

HE    REMEMBERS    HIS    FRIENDS. 

"He  liked  to  provide  for  his  friends,  who  were  often  remem 
bered  gratefully  for  services  given  him  in  his  early  struggles 
in  life.  Sometimes  he  would  'break  the  slate,'  as  he  called  it> 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  717 

of  those  who  were  making  up  a  list  of  appointments,  that  he 
might  insert  the  name  of  some  old  acquaintance  who  had  be 
friended  him  in  days  when  friends  were  few.  He  was  not 
deceived  by  outside  appearances,  but  took  the  measure  of  those 
he  met,  and  few  men  were  worth  any  more  or  any  less  than  the 
value  which  Abraham  Lincoln  set  upon  them. 

"  Upon  being  told  that  a  gentleman  upon  whom  he  was  about 
to  confer  a  valuable  appointment  had  been  bitterly  opposed  to 

his  renomination,  he  said :  '  I  suppose  that  Judge ,  having 

been  disappointed  before,  did  behave  pretty  ugly;  but  that 
wouldn't  make  him  any  less  fit  for  this  place,  and  I  have  a 
Scriptural  authority  for  appointing  him.  You  recollect  that 
while  the  Lord  on  Mount  Sinai  was  getting  out  a  commission 
for  Aaron,  that  same  Aaron  was  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
making  a  false  god,  a  golden  calf,  for  the  people  to  worship  ; 
yet  Aaron  got  his  commission  you  know.'  At  another  time, 
when  remonstrated  with  upon  the  appointment  to  place  of  one  of 
his  former  opponents,  he  said  :  '  Nobody  will  deny  that  he  is  a 
first-rate  man  for  the  place,  and  I  am  bound  to  see  that  his 
opposition  to  me  personally  shall  not  interfere  with  my  giving 
the  people  a  good  officer.'  " 

HIS   LITTLE   STORIES. 

"  The  world  will  never  hear  the  last  of  the  '  little  stories ' 
with  which  the  President  garnished  or  illustrated  his  conversa 
tion  and  his  early  stump  speeches.  He  said,  however,  that  as 
near  as  he  could  reckon,  about  one-sixth  of  those  which  were 
credited  to  him  were  old  acquaintances ;  all  of  the  rest  were 
the  productions  of  other  and  better  story-tellers  than  himself. 
Said  he  :  '  I  do  generally  remember  a  good  story  when  I  hear 
it,  but  I  never  did  invent  any  thing  original ;  I  am  only  a 
retail  dealer.'  His  anecdotes  were  seldom  told  for  the  sake  of 
the  telling,  but  because  they  fitted  in  just  where  they  came,  and 
shed  a  light  on  the  argument  that  nothing  else  could.  He  was 
not  witty,  but  brimful  of  humor ;  and  though  he  was  quick  to 


718  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

appreciate  a  good  pun,  I  never  knew  of  his  making  but  one, 
which  was  on  the  Christian  name  of  a  friend,  to  whom  he  said : 
'  You  have  yet  to  be  elected  to  the  place  I  hold  ;  but  Noah's 
reign  was  before  Abraham.'  He  thought  that  the  chief  char 
acteristic  of  American  humor  was  its  grotesqueness  and  ex 
travagance  ;  and  the  story  of  a  man  who  was  so  tall  that  he 
was  '  laid  out '  in  a  rope-walk,  the  soprano  voice  so  high  that 
it  had  to  be  climbed  over  by  a  ladder,  and  the  Dutchman's  ex 
pression  of  '  somebody  tying  his  dog  loose,'  all  made  a  perma 
nent  lodgment  in  his  mind." 

HIS    POWER   OF    MEMORY. 

"  His  accuracy  and  memory  were  wonderful,  and  one  illus 
tration  of  the  former  quality  may  be  given  in  the  remarkable 
correspondence  between  the  figures  of  the  result  of  the  last 
Presidential  election  and  the  actual  sum  total.  The  President's 
figures,  collected  hastily,  and  partially  based  upon  his  own 
estimates,  made  up  only  four  weeks  after  the  election,  have 
been  found  to  be  only  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  less  in 
their  grand  total  than  that  made  up  by  Mr.  M'Pherson,  the 
Clerk  of  the  House  of  [Representatives,  who  has  compiled  a 
table  from  the  returns  furnished  him  from  the  official  records 
of  all  the  State  capitals  in  the  loyal  States." 

HIS   LITERARY   TASTES   AND   HABITS. 

"Latterly  Mr.  Lincoln's  reading  was  with  the  humorous 
writers.  He  liked  to  repeat  from  memory  whole  chapters  from 
these  books ;  and  on  such  occasions,  he  always  preserved  his 
own  gravity  though  his  auditors  might  be  convulsed  with 
laughter.  He  said  that  he  had  a  dread  of  people  who  could  not 
appreciate  the  fun  of  such  things  ;  and  he  once  instanced  a 
member  of  his  own  Cabinet,  of  whom  he  quoted  the  saying  of 
Sydney  Smith, 'that  it  required  a  surgical  operation  to  get  a 
joke  into  his  head.'  The  light  trifles  spoken  of,  diverted  his 
mind,  or,  as  he  said  of  his  theatre-going,  gave  him  refuge  from 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  719 

himself  and  his  weariness.  But  he  also  was  a  lover  of  many  phi 
losophical  books,  and  particularly  liked  Butler's  Analogy  of 
Religion,  Stuart  Mill  on  Liberty,  and  he  always  hoped  to  get 
at  President  Edwards  on  the  "Will.  These  ponderous  writers 
found  a  queer  companionship  in  the  chronicler  of  the  Mackerel 
Brigade,  Parson  Nasby,  and  private  Miles  O'Reilly.  The  Bible 
was  a  very  familiar  study  with  the  President,  whole  chapters 
of  Isaiah,  the  New  Testament  and  the  Psalms  being  fixed  in  his 
memory,  and  he  would  sometimes  correct  a  misquotation  of 
Scripture,  giving  generally  the  chapter  and  verse  where  it  could 
be  -found.  He  liked  the  Old  Testament  best,  and  dwelt  on  the 
simple  beauty  of  the  historical  books.  Once,  speaking  of  his 
own  age  and  strength,  he  quoted  with  admiration,  that  passage, 
1  His  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated.'  I  do  not 
know  that  he  thought  then,  how,  like  that  Moses  of  old,  he  was 
to  stand  on  Pisgah  and  see  a  peaceful  land  which  he  was  not  to 
enter. 

"  Of  the  poets,  the  President  appeared  to  prefer  Hood  and 
Holmes,  the  mixture  and  pathos  in  their  writings  being  attrac 
tive  to  him  beyond  any  thing  else  which  he  read.  Of  the 
former,  author  he  liked  best  the  last  part  of  '  Miss  Kilmansegg 
and  her  Golden  Leg,'  'Faithless  Sallie  Brown,'  and  one  or  two 
others  not  generally  so  popular  as  those  which  are  called  Hood's 
best  poems.  Holmes's  'September  Gale,'  'Last  Leaf/  'Cham 
bered  Nautilus,'  and  'Ballad  of  an  Oysterman,'  were  among  his 
very  few  favorite  poems.  Longfellow's  'Psalm  of  Life,'  and 
'Birds  of  Killingworth,'  were  the  only  productions  of  that  author 
he  ever  mentioned  with  praise,  the  latter  of  which  he  picked 
up  somewhere  in  a  newspaper,  cut  out,  and  carried  in  his  vest 
pocket  until  it  was  committed  to  memory.  James  Russell 
Lowell  he  only  knew  as  '  Hosea  Biglow,'  every  one  of  whose 
effusions  he  knew.  He  sometimes  repeated,  word  for  word, 
the  whole  of  'John  P.  Robinson,  he,'  giving  the  unceasing 
refrain  with  great  unction  and  enjoyment.  He  once  said  that 


720  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN*. 

originality  and  daring  impudence  were  sublimed  in  this  stanza- 
of  Lowell's : 

'  Ef  you  take  a  sword  and  dror  it, 
An'  stick  a  feller  creetur  thru, 
Gov'ment  hain't  to  answer  for  it, 
God'll  send  the  bill  to  you.' 

"  Mr.  Lincoln's  love  of  music  was  something  passionate,  but 
his  tastes  were  simple  and  uncultivated,  his  choice  being  old 
airs,  songs  and  ballads,  among  which  the  plaintive  Scotch  songs 
were  best  liked.  'Annie  Laurie,'  '  Mary  of  Argyle,'  and  especi 
ally  Auld  Robin  Gray,'  never  lost  their  charm  for  him  ;  and  all 
songs  which  had  for  their  theme  the  rapid  flight  of  time,  decay, 
the  recollections  of  early  days,  were  sure  to  make  a  deep  im 
pression.  The  song  which  he  liked  best,  above  all  others,  was 
one  called  '  Twenty  Years  Ago' — a  simple  air,  the  words  to  which 
are  supposed  to  be  uttered  by  a  man  who  revisits  the  play-ground 
of  his  youth.  He  greatly  desired  to  find  music  for  his  favorite 
poem,  'Oh,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  ?'  and  said 
once,  when  told  that  the  newspapers  had  credited  him  with  the 
authorship  of  the  piece,  '  I  should  not  care  much  for  the  repu 
tation  of  having  written  that,  but  would  be  glad  if  I  could 
compose  music  as  fit  to  convey  the  sentiment  as  the  words  now 
do.' 

"  He  wrote  slowly,  and  with  the  greatest  deliberation,  and 
liked  to  take  his  time;  yet  some  of  his  despatches,  written 
without  any  corrections,  are  models  of  compactness  and  finish. 
His  private  correspondence  was  extensive,  and  he  preferred 
writing  his  letters  with  his  own  hand,  making  copies  himself, 
frequently,  and  filing  every  thing  away  in  a  set  of  pigeon-holes 
in  his  office.  When  asked  why  he  did  not  have  a  letter-book 
and  copying-press,  he  said,  'A  letter-book  might  be  easily 
carried  off,  but  that  stock  of  filed  letters  would  be  a  back  load.' 
He  conscientiously  attended  to  his  enormous  correspondence, 
and  read  every  thing  that  appeared  to  demand  his  own  atten 
tion.  He  said  that  he  read  with  great  regularity  the  letters  of 
an  old  friend,  who  lived  on  the  Pacific  coast,  until  he  received 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  721 

a  letter  of  seventy  pages  of  letter  paper,  when  he  broke  down  and 
never  read  another. 

"  People  were  sometimes  disappointed,  because  he  appeared 
before  them  with  a  written  speech.  The  best  explanation  of 
that  habit  of  his  was  his  remark  to  a  friend  who  noticed  a  roll 
of  manuscript  in  the  hand  of  the  President  as  he  came  into  the 
parlor  while  waiting  for  the  serenade  which  was  given  him  on 
the  night  following  his  re-election.  Said  he  :  '  I  know  what  you 
are  thinking  about ;  but  there's  no  clap-trap  about  me,  and  1 
am  free  to  say  that  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment  I  am  sure 
to  say  something  which  I  am  sorry  for  when  I  see  it  in  print ; 
so  I  have  it  here  in  black  and  white,  and  there  are  no  mistakes 
made.  People  attach  too  much  importance  to  what  I  say  any 
how.'  Upon  another  occasion,  hearing  that  I  was  in  the  parlor, 
he  sent  for  me  to  come  up  into  the  library,  where  I  found  him 
writing  on  a  piece  of  common  stiff  box-board  with  a  pencil. 
Said  he,  after  he  had  finished,  '  Here  is  one  speech  of  mine  which 
has  never  been  printed,  and  I  think  it  worth  printing.  Just  see 
what  you  think.'  He  then  read  the  following,  which  is  copied 
verbatim  from  the  familiar  handwriting  before  me : 

" '  On  Thursday,  of  last  week,  two  ladies  from  Tennessee, 
came  before  the  President,  asking  the  release  of  their  husbands, 
held  as  prisoners  of  war  at  Johnson's  Island.  They  were  put 
off  until  Friday,  when  they  came  again,  and  were  again  put  off 
until  Saturday.  At  each  of  the  interviews,  one  of  the  ladies 
urged  that  her  husband  was  a  religious  man.  On  Saturday, 
when  the  President  ordered  the  release  of  the  prisoners,  he  said 
to  this  lady:  "You  say  your  husband  is  a  religious  man ;  tell 
him,  when  you  meet  him,  that  I  say  I  am  not  much  of  a  judge 
of  religion,  but  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  religion  that  sets  men 
to  rebel  and  fight  against  their  government  because,  as  they 
think,  that  government  does  not  sufficiently  help  some  men  to 
eat  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces,  is  not  the  sort 
of  religion  upon  which  people  can  get  to  heaven.'  " 

"  To  this,  the  President  signed  his  name  at  my  request,  by 
way  of  joke,  and  added  for  a  caption,  '  The  President's  Last, 
46 


722  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

shortest,  and  best  speech/  under  which,  title  it  was  duly  pub 
lished  in  one  of  the  Washington  newspapers.  His  message  to 
the  last  session  of  Congress  was  first  written  upon  the  same  sort 
of  white  pasteboard  above  referred  to,  its  stiffness  enabling  him 
to  lay  it  on  his  knee  as  he  sat  easily  in  his  arm-chair,  writing 
and  erasing  as  he  thought  and  wrought  out  his  idea." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  recorded  conversations 
with  Mr.  Lincoln,  both  as  illustrating  the  character  of 
his  mind,  and  in  view  of  the  sudden  and  tragic  manner 
of  his  death,  is  that  described  by  Colonel  Charles  G. 
Halpine,  a  member  of  General  Halleck's  staff,  and  who 
had  frequent  occasion,  during  the  fall  of  1862,  to  wait 
upon  the  President,  both  during  official  hours  and  at 
other  times. 

"  Once,"  says  Mr.  H.,  "  on  what  was  called  '  a  public  day,' 
when  Mr.  Lincoln  received  all  applicants  in  their  turn — the 
writer  was  struck  by  observing,  as  he  passed  through  the 
corridor,  the  heterogeneous  crowd  of  men  and  women,  repre 
senting  all  ranks  and  classes,  who  were  gathered  in  the  large 
waiting-room  outside  the  President's  suite  of  offices. 

"Being  ushered  into  the  President's  chamber  by  Major 
Hay,  the  first  thing  he  saw  was  Mr.  Lincoln  bowing  an  elderly 
lady  out  of  the  door — the  President's  remarks  to  her  being,  as 
she  still  lingered  and  appeared  reluctant  to  go :  '  I  am  really 
very  sorry,  madame ;  very  sorry.  But  your  own  good  sense 
must  tell  you  that  I  am  not  here  to  collect  small  debts.  You 
must  appeal  to  the  courts  in  regular  order.' 

"When  she  was  gone,  Mr.  Lincoln  sat  down,  crossed  his 
legs,  locked  his  hands  over  his  knees,  and  commenced  to  laugh 
this  being  his  favorite  attitude  when  much  amused. 

" '  What  odd  kinds  of  people  come  in  to  see  me,'  he  said 
'and  what  odd  ideas  they  must  have  about  my  office!     Would 
you  believe,  major,  that  the  old  lady  who  has  just  left  came  in 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  723 

here  to  get  from  me  an  order  for  stopping  the  pay  of  a  Treasury 
clerk,  who  owes  her  a  board  bill  of  about  seventy  dollars?' 
And  the  President  rocked  himself  backward  and  forward,  and 
appeared  intensely  amused. 

"  She  may  have  come  in  here  a  loyal  woman,'  continued  Mr. 
Lincoln,  '  but  I'll  be  bound  she  has  gone  away  believing  that 
the  worst  pictures  of  me  in  the  Eichmond  press  only  lack  truth 
in  not  being  half  black  and  bad  enough.' 

"This  led  to  a  somewhat  general  conversation,  in  which  I 
expressed  surprise  that  he  did  not  adopt  the  plan  in  force  at  all 
military  headquarters,  under  which  every  applicant  to  see  the 
general  commanding  had  to  be  filtered  through  a  sieve  of 
officers — assistant  adjutant-generals,  and  so  forth,  who  allowed 
none  in  to  take  up  the  general's  time  save  such  as  they  were 
satisfied  had  business  of  sufficient  importance,  and  which  could 
be  transacted  in  no  other  manner  than  by  a  personal  interview. 

"  Of  every  hundred  people  who  come  to  see  the  general-in- 
chief  daily,  I  explained,  not  ten  have  any  sufficient  business 
with  him,  nor  are  they  admitted.  On  being  asked  to  explain 
for  what  purpose  they  desire  to  see  him,  and  stating  it,  it  is 
found,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  tliat  the  business  properly 
belongs  to  some  one  or  other  of  the  subordinate  bureaux. 
They  are  then  referred,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  the  quartermaster, 
commissary,  medical,  adjutant-general,  or  other  departments, 
with  an  assurance  that,  even  if  they  saw  the  general-in-chief,  he 
could  do  nothing  more  for  them  than  give  them  the  same 
direction.  With  these  points  courteously  explained,  I  added, 
they  go  away  quite  content,  although  refused  admittance. 

" '  Ah,  yes !'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  gravely — and  his  words  on  this 
matter  are  important  as  illustrating  a  rule  of  his  action,  and  to 
some  extent,  perhaps,  the  essentially  representative  character 
of  his  mind  and  of  his  administration.  'Ah,  yes!  such  things 
do  very  well  for  you  military  people,  with  your  arbitrary  rule, 
and  in  your  camps.  But  the  office  of  President  is  essentially  a 
civil  one,  and  the  affair  is  very  different.  For  myself,  I  feel, 


724  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

though  the  tax  on  my  time  is  heavy,  that  no  hours  of  my  day 
are  better  employed  than  those  which  thus  bring  me  again 
within  the  direct  contact  and  atmosphere  of  the  average  of  our 
whole  people.  Men  moving  only  in  an  official  circle  are  apt 
to  become  merely  official,  not  to  say  arbitrary  in  their  ideas, 
and  are  apter  and  apter,  with  each  passing  day,  to  forget  that 
they  only  hold  power  in  a  representative  capacity.  Now  this 
is  all  wrong.  I  go  into  these  promiscuous  receptions  of  all 
who  claim  to  have  business  with  me  twice  each  week,  and 
every  applicant  for  audience  has  to  take  his  turn  as  if  waiting 
to  be  shaved  in  a  barber's  shop.  Many  of  the  matters  brought 
to  my  notice  are  utterly  frivolous,  but  others  are  of  more  or 
less  importance,  and  all  serve  to  renew  in  me  a  clearer  and 
more  vivid  image  of  that  great  popular  assemblage  out  of  which 
I  sprang,  and  to  which  at  the  end  of  two  years  I  must  return. 
I  tell  you,  major,'  he  said — appearing  at  this  point  to  recollect 
I  was  in  the  room,  for  the  former  part  of  these  remarks  had 
been  made  with  half-shut  eyes,  as  if  in  soliloquy — '  I  tell  you 
that  I  call  these  receptions  my  public-opinion  baths,  for  I  have 
but  little  time  to  read  the  papers  and  gather  public  opinion 
that  way ;  and  though  they  may  not  be  pleasant  in  all  their 
particulars,  the  effect,  as  a  whole,  is  renovating  and  invigorating 
to  my  perceptions  of  responsibility  and  duty.  It  would  never 
do  for  a  President  to  have  guards  with  drawn  sabres  at  his 
door,  as  if  he  fancied  he  were,  or  were  trying  to  be,  or  were 
assuming  to  be  an  emperor.' 

"  This  remark  about  '  guards  with  drawn  sabres  at  his  door/ 
called  my  attention  afresh  to  what  I  had  remarked  to  myself 
almost  every  time  I  entered  the  White  House,  both  then  and 
since,  and  to  which  I  had  very  frequently  called  the  attention 
both  of  Major  Hay  and  General  Halleck — the  utterly  unpro 
tected  condition  of  the  President's  person,  and  the  fact  that  any 
assassin  or  maniac,  seeking  his  life,  could  enter  his  presence 
without  the  interference  of  a  single  armed  man  to  hold  him 
back.  The  entrance  doors,  and  all  doors  on  the  official  side  of 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  725 

the  building,  were  open  at  all  hours  of  the  day,  and  very  late 
into  the  evening :  and  I  have  many  times  entered  the  mansion 
and  walked  up  to  the  rooms  of  the  two  private  secretaries  as 
late  as  nine  or  ten  o'clock  at  night,  without  seeing  or  being 
challenged  by  a  single  soul.  There  were,  indeed,  two  attend 
ants,  one  for  the  outer  door  and  the  other  for  the  door  of  the 
official  chambers;  but  these,  thinking,  I  suppose,  that  none 
would  call  after  office  hours  save  persons  who  were  personally 
acquainted,  or  had  the  right  of  official  entry,  were,  not  unfre- 
quently,  somewhat  remiss  in  their  duties. 

"  To  this  fact  I  now  ventured  to  call  the  President's  attention, 
saying  that  to  me — perhaps  from  my  European  education — it 
appeared  a  deliberate  courting  of  danger,  even  if  the  country 
were  in  a  state  of  the  profoundest  peace,  for  the  person  at  the 
head  of  the  nation  to  remain  so  unprotected. 

" '  Even  granting,  Mr.  Lincoln,'  I  said,  '  that  no  assassin  should 
seek  your  life,  the  large  number  of  lunatics  always  in  a  com 
munity,  and  always  larger  in  times  like  these,  and  the  tendency 
which  insanity  has  to  strike  at  shining  objects,  or  whomsoever 
is  most  talked  about,  should  lead — I  submit — to  some  guards 
about  the  place,  and  to  some  permanent  officers  with  the  power 
and  duty  of  questioning  all  who  seek  to  enter.'  To  this  I  added 
some  brief  sketch  of  the  all  but  innumerable  crazy  letters  and 
projects  which  were  continually  being  received  at  General 
Halleck's  headquarters,  and  which  he  had,  one  day,  laughingly 
turned  over  to  me,  on  the  ground  that  I  now  and  then  wrote 
verses. 

" '  There  are  two  dangers,  therefore,'  I  wound  up  by  saying  ; 
'  the  danger  of  deliberate  political  assassination,  and  the  mere 
brute  violence  of  insanity.' 

"Mr.  Lincoln  had  heard  me  with  a  smile,  his  hands  still 
locked  across  his  knees,  and  his  body  still  rocking  back  and 
forth — the  common  indication  that  he  was  amused. 

"'Now,  as  to  political  assassination,'  he  said,  'do  you  think 
the  Richmond  people  would  like  to  have  Hannibal  Hamlin  here 


726  THE   LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

any  better  than  myself?  In  that  one  alternative,  I  have  an 
insurance  on  my  life  worth  half  the  prairie  land  of  Illinois. 
And  beside/ — this  more  gravely — '  if  there  were  such  a  plot, 
and  they  wanted  to  get  at  me,  no  vigilance  could  keep  them  out. 
We  are  so  mixed  up  in  our  affairs,  that — no  matter  what  the 
system  established — a  conspiracy  to  assassinate,  if  such  there 
were,  could  easily  obtain  a  pass  to  see  me  for  any  one  or  more 
of  its  instruments. 

"  '  To  betray  fear  of  this,  by  placing  guards  or  so  forth,  would 
only  be  to  put  the  idea  into  their  heads,  and  perhaps  lead  to  the 
very  result  it  was  intended  to  prevent.  As  to  the  crazy  folks, 
Major,  why  I  must  only  take  my  chances — the  worst  crazy 
people  at  present,  I  fear,  being  some  of  my  own  too  zealous 
adherents.  That  there  may  be  such  dangers  as  you  and  many 
others  have  suggested  to  me,  is  quite  possible ;  but  I  guess  it 
wouldn't  improve  things  any  to  publish  that  we  were  afraid  of 
them  in  advance.' 

"  At  this  point,  the  President  turned  to  the  papers  I  had 
brought  over  for  his  signature,  and,  signing  them,  handed  them 
to  me  with  some  message  for  General  Halleck.  "Whereupon  I 
bowed  myself  out,  and  the  stream  of  omnium-gatherum  hu 
manity,  from  the  waiting-rooms,  again  commenced  flowing  in 
upon  him — sometimes  in  individual — sometimes  in  deputational 
or  collective  waves. 

"  The  whole  interview  I  have  here  narrated,  though  taking 
so  much  longer  to  tell,  had  probably  not  endured  over  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes  ;  and  it  was  the  first,  although  not  the  only  time 
that  I  heard  Mr.  Lincoln  discuss  the  possibility  of  an  attempt 
to  assassinate  him. 

"  The  second  time  was  when  he  came  over,  one  evening,  after 
dinner,  to  General  Halleck's  private  quarters  to  protest — half 
jocularly,  half  in  earnest — against  a  small  detachment  of  cav 
alry  which  had  been  detailed  without  his  request,  and  partly 
against  his  will,  by  the  lamented  General  Wads  worth,  as  a 
guard  for  his  carriage  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  Sol- 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  727 

diers'  Home.  The  burden  of  his  complaint  was  that  he  and 
Mrs.  Lincoln  '  couldn't  hear  themselves  talk,'  for  the  clatter  of 
their  sabers  and  spurs  ;  and  that,  as  many  of  them  appeared  new 
hands  and  very  awkward,  he  was  more  afraid  of  being  shot  by  the 
accidental  discharge  of  one  of  their  carbines  or  revolvers,  than 
of  any  attempt  upon  his  life  or  for  his  capture  by  the  roving 
squads  of  Jeb  Stuart's  cavalry,  then  hovering  all  round  the 
exterior  works  of  the  city." 

"Mr.  Lincoln,"  says  the  Eev.  M.  D.  Conway,  "answered  well 
Frederick  the  Great's  definition^of  a  prince — the  first  of  sub 
jects.  His  confidence  in  the  people  was  as  simple  and  unhesi 
tating  as  his  loyalty  to  them  was  perfect.  He  believed  that 
there  was,  under  all  parties,  a  substratum  of  patriotism ;  and  I 
never  saw  his  eye  shine  more,  than  when  some  one  told  of  a 
town  in  Ohio,  where,  up  to  the  time  of  the  war,  two  party- 
flags  had  been  flying,  and  whose  inhabitants,  when  they  heard 
of  the  attack  upon  Fort  Sumter,  cut  down  the  two  poles,  with 
their  flags,  and  making  the  two  into  one,  hoisted  it  with  the 
stars  and  stripes,  alone,  at  its  head.' 

"  A  few  days  before  the  advance  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
previous  to  the  Bull  Kun  battle  in  1861,  thirty  thousand  new 
troops  passed  through  Washington,  and  were  reviewed  by  the 
President  and  his  Cabinet.  In  connection  with  this,  the  im 
posing  ceremony  was  to  be  performed  of  raising  a  flag  near  the 
Treasury  Department,  and  this  was  a  kind  of  work  that  Lincoln 
loved  to  do  with  his  own  hands.  A  platform  had  been  erected 
at  the  foot  of  the  flag-staff,  and  when  the  President  took  his 
place  upon  it,  thousands  of  loyal  citizens  gathered  around  to 
see  the  glorious  emblem  hoisted  in  mid-air.  It  was  an  im 
posing  sight,  when  the  President's  tall  figure  appeared  standing 
in  the  midst  of  his  councillors  with  the  halyards  in  his  hands 
ready  to  send  the  stars  and  stripes  aloft.  With  his  hand  up 
lifted  and  his  face  raised  toward  the  sky,  he  ran  the  flag  up, 
and  saw  it  catch  the  wind  and  float  slowly  out  between  him  and 
the  blue  sky.  He  stood  looking  at  it  a  moment,  then  turned 


728  THE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

his  bright  earnest  eyes  upon  the  uplifted  faces  of  the  crowd. 
'My  friends,'  he  said,  in  a  clear,  full  voice,  'it  is  an  easy  thing 
for  me  to  run  this  flag  up  to  the  top  of  the  staff,  but  it  will  take 
the  whole  nation  to  keep  it  there.' 

"A  shout  rung  out  from  the  multitude,  one  of  those  wild 
impulsive  echoes  of  a  thousand  hearts,  which  bespeak  the  en 
thusiasm  of  untried  strength.  It  seemed  an  easy  thing  to  the 
people,  with  the  tramp  of  those  thirty  thousand  new  troops  in 
their  ears,  to  keep  thousands  of  star-spangled  banners  skyward  ; 
but  before  many  days  had  passed,  the  rush  of  fugitive  feet,  as 
they  fled  along  those  very  pavements,  proved  how  prophetic 
was  that  simple  speech  of  President  Lincoln." 


HIS  LIFE,    CHARACTER  AND  WORK.  729 


CLOSING  CHAPTER. 

ESTIMATE    OF   MR.   LINCOLN'S   LIFE,    CHARACTER  AND  WORK. 

WE  can,  in  conclusion,  offer  our  readers  no  clearer 
analysis,  and  no  more  appreciative  resume  of  the  char 
acter  of  our  distinguished  subject,  whose  career  we  have 
thus  traced  from  his  humble  cradle  to  his  thrice-honored 
grave,  than  is  contained  in  the  sermon  preached  on 
Sabbath,  April  30th,  1865,  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  P. 
Thompson,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle 
Church,  of  New  York  city,  on 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,   HIS   LIFE  AND  ITS  LESSONS. 

#  #  #  #  "An  analysis  of  the  mental  and  moral  traits 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  will  show  us  how  complete  was  his  adaptation 
for  that  very  period  of  our  national  history  which  he  was 
called  to  fill,  and  which  he  has  made  so  peculiarly  his  own. 
His  mental  processes  were  characterized  by  originality,  clear 
ness,  comprehensiveness,  sagacity,  logical  fitness,  acumen,  and 
strength.  He  was  an  original  thinker ;  not  in  the  sense  of 
always  having  new  and  striking  ideas,  for  such  originality  may 
be  as  daring  and  dangerous  as  it  is  peculiar  and  rare ;  but  he 
was  original  in  that  his  ideas  were  in  some  characteristic  way 
his  own.  However  common  to  other  minds,  however  simple 
and  axiomatic  when  stated,  they  bore  the  stamp  of  indi 
viduality.  Not  a  message  or  proclamation  did  he  write,  not  a 
letter  did  he  pen,  which  did  not  carry  on  the  face  of  it 
1  Abraham  Lincoln,  his  mark.'  He  thought  out  every  subject 
for  himself;  and  he  did  not  commit  himself  in  public  upon  any 
subject  which  he  had  not  made  his  own  by  reflection.  Hence 
even  familiar  thoughts  coming  before  us  in  the  simple  rustic 


730  THE   LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

garb  of  his  homely  speech,  seemed  fresh  and  new.  He  took 
from  the  mint  of  political  science  the  bullion  which  philosophers 
had  there  deposited,  and  coined  it  into  proverbs  for  the  people. 
Or,  in  the  great  placer  of  political  speculations,  he  sometimes 
struck  a  lode  of  genuine  metal,  and  wrought  it  with  his 
own  hands. 

"'The  Union  is  older  than  the  Constitution;'  'The  Union 
made  the  Constitution,  and  not  the  Constitution  the  Union.' 

"'Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier  than  friends  can  make 
laws  ?' 

" '  Capital  is  the  fruit  of  labor,  and  could  never  have  existed 
if  labor  had  not  first  existed.' 

" '  In  giving  freedom  to  the  slave,  we  assure  freedom  to  the 
free.1 

" '  Often  a  limb  must  be  amputated  to  save  a  life ;  but  a  life 
is  never  wisely  given  to  save  a  limb.' 

"What  volumes  of  philosophy,  of  history,  of  political 
economy,  of  legal  and  ethical  science,  are  condensed  into  these 
pithy  sentences,  each  bearing  the  mark  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
individuality.  Much  of  this  individuality  of  thought  was  due 
to  the  seclusion  of  his  early  life  from  books  and  schools,  and  to 
the  meditative  habit  induced  by  the  solitude  of  the  forest. 
******** 

"  The  simplifying  of  thought  was  a  passion  with  him ;  and 
in  his  own  pithy  words,  'I  was  never  easy  until  I  had  a 
thought  bounded  on  the  north,  and  bounded  on  the  south,  and 
bounded  on  the  east,  and  bounded  on  the  west.' 

"  How  much  the  American  people  will  hereafter  owe  to  him 
for  having  staked  out  the  boundaries  of  political  ideas  hitherto 
but  vaguely  comprehended.  How  conclusive  against  the  right 
of  secession  is  this  clearly-bounded  statement  of  the  first 
inaugural : 

" '  I  hold  that  in  the  contemplation  of  universal  law  and  of 
the  Constitution,  the  union  of  these  States  is  perpetual.  Per 
petuity  is  implied,  if  not  expressed,  in  the  fundamental  law  of 


HIS   LIFE,    CHARACTER   AND   WORK.  731 

all  national  governments.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  no  govern 
ment  proper  ever  had  a  provision  in  its  own  organic  law  for  its 
own  termination.  Continue  to  execute  all  the  express  pro 
visions  of  our  national  Constitution,  and  the  Union  will  endure 
for  ever,  it  being  impossible  to  destroy  it,  except  by  some 
action  not  provided  for  in  the  instrument  itself.' 

"The  opening  sentence  of  his  Springfield  speech,  June  17, 
1858,  which  was  the  foundation  of  his  great  debate  with  Doug 
las,  bounded  the  question  of  nationalizing  slavery  so  clearly 
and  sharply,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  only  to  repeat  that  statement 
from  time  to  time,  to  clinch  every  argument  of  every  speech : 
'A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  I  believe  this 
government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free. 
I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved.  I  do  not  expect 
the  house  to  fall ;  but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided. 
It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the  other.' 

"  Mr.  Douglas's  policy  was  fast  making  it  '  all  one  thing ;'  Mr. 
Lincoln  lived  to  make  it,  and  to  see  it  '  all  the  other !' 

"Imagination  and  a  poetic  sensibility  were  not  wanting  in  a 
soul  that  could  conceive  the  last  inaugural  or  could  indite  the 
closing  sentence  of  the  first :  '  The  mystic  chords  of  memory, 
stretching  from  every  battle-field  and  patriot  grave  to  every 
living  heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet 
swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely 
they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature.' 

"  He  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Burns,  and  a  discriminating 
atudent  of  Shakespeare. 

"  Enthusiasm  was  not  lacking  in  a  mind  that,  in  the  midst 
of  a  wasting  civil  war,  could  prophecy :  '  There  are  already 
those  among  us,  who,  if  the  Union  be  preserved,  will  live  to 
see  it  contain  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions.  The  struggle  of 
to-day  is  not  altogether  for  to-day ;  it  is  for  a  vast  future  also.' 

"  But  neither  enthusiasm  nor  imagination  ever  mastered  that 
calm,  clear  judgment,  trained  to  a  cautious  self-reliance  by  the 
early  discipline  of  the  forest  school. 


. 

732  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

/ 

"Comprehensiveness  was  equally  characteristic  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  views,  upon  questions  where  breadth  was  as  important 
as  clearness  of  vision.  Those  who  have  had  occasion  to  con 
sult  with  him  upon  public  affairs  have  often  remarked,  that 
even  in  the  course  of  protracted  and  able  deliberations,  there 
would  arise  no  aspect  of  the  question  which  had  not  already 
occurred  to  the  mind  of  the  President,  and  been  allowed  its 
weight  in  forming  his  opinion.  His  judgment  was  roundabout, 
encompassing  the  subject  upon  every  side;  it  was  circumspect — 
attending  to  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  patiently 
investigating  its  minutise.  He  would  not  approve  the  finding 
of  a  court-martial  without  reading  over  carefully  the  details  of 
the  evidence,  and  hearing  the  pleas  of  the  condemned  and  his 
friends  ;  and  this  conscientious  legal  and  judicial  habit,  applied 
to  questions  of  state  policy,  gave  to  his  views  a  breadth  and 
solidity  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  mere  speculative  politician. 
Hence  came  that  reputation  for  sagacity  and  insight,  which 
grew  with  our  observation  of  the  man  and  with  the  unfolding 
of  events  ratifying  his  judgment.  How  often  where  his  seeming 
hesitancy  had  tried  our  patience,  have  we  come  to  see  that  he 
had  surveyed  the  whole  question,  had  anticipated  what  lay  be 
yond,  and  was  biding  his  time.  His  studied  silence  touching 
his  own  intentions,  in  his  replies  to  speeches  of  welcome  along 
the  route  from  Springfield  to  Washington  in  1861,  was  dictated 
by  his  comprehensive  wisdom.  At  every  point  he  baffled 
curiosity  and  rebuked  impatience  by  avowing  his  determina 
tion  not  to  speak  at  all  upon  public  questions  until  he  could 
speak  advisedly.  '  I  deem  it  just  to  you,  to  myself,  and  to  all, 
that  I  should  see  every  thing,  that  I  should  hear  every  thing, 
that  I  should  have  every  light  that  can  be  brought  within  my 
reach,  in  order  that  when  I  do  speak,  I  shall  have  enjoyed 
every  opportunity  to  take  correct  and  true  grounds ;  and  for 
this  reason  I  don't  propose  to  speak,  at  this  time,  of  the  policy 
of  the  government."*  This  was  not  the  evasiveness  of  the 
politician,  but  the  wise  reserve  of  the  statesman. 

*  Speech  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York. 


HIS    LIFE,    CHARACTER    AND   WORK.  733 

"He  maintained  the  same  reticence  upon  the  difficult  problem 
of  re-organization,  which  was  the  burden  of  his  latest  public 
utterance,  after  the  fall  of  Richmond.  His  adroit  substitution 
of  a  story  or  a  witticism  for  a  formal  speech,  at  times  when  his 
words  were  watched  and  weighed,  was  but  another  illustration 
of  his  practical  sagacity.  And  when  the  secret  history  of  the 
dark  periods  of  the  war  shall  be  disclosed,  Mr.  Lincoln  will 
stand  justified  before  the  world,  alike  for  his  reticence  while 
waiting  for  light,  and  for  a  policy  guided  by  an  almost  pro 
phetic  insight,  when,  by  patient  waiting,  he  had  gained  clear 
ness  and  comprehensiveness  of  view. 

"The  mental  processes  of  Mr.  Lincoln  were  characterized, 
moreover,  by  a  logical  fitness,  keenness,  and  strength.  Not 
for  naught  did  he  master  the  science  of  demonstration.  His 
speeches  are  a  catena  of  propositions  and  proofs  that  bind  the 
mind  to  his  conclusions  as  soon  as  his  premises  are  conceded. 
In  his  great  debate  with  Mr.  Douglas — a  debate  accompanied 
with  all  the  excitements  of  a  political  canvass,  and  in  which  he 
was  called  upon  to  reply  to  his  opponent  in  the  hearing  of  eager 
thousands — it  is  remarkable  that  he  never  had  occasion  to 
retract  or  even  to  qualify  any  of  his  positions,  that  he  never 
contradicted  himselfj  nor  abandoned  an  argument  that  he  had 
once  assumed.  His  caution  and  circumspection  led  him  to 
choose  his  words  and  to  state  only  that  which  he  could  main 
tain.  His  clear  and  comprehensive  survey  of  his  subject  made 
him  the  master  of  his  own  position ;  and  his  calm,  strong  logic, 
and  his  keen  power  of  dissection,  made  him  a  formidable  anta 
gonist.  He  who  had  such  force  of  resolution,  that  in  full  man 
hood,  after  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  State  legislature,  he 
could  go  to  school  to  Euclid  to  learn  how  to  demonstrate,  was 
likely  to  reason  to  some  purpose  when  he  had  laid  down  his 
propositions. 

"But  it  was  mainly  his  adherence  to  ethical  principles  in 
political  discussions  that  gave  such  point  and  force  to  his  rea 
sonings  ;  for  no  politician  of  this  generation  has  applied  Chris- 


734  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tian  ethics  to  questions  of  public  policy  with,  more  of  honesty, 
of  consistency,  or  of  downright  earnestness.  Standing  in  the 
old  Independence  Hall  at  Philadelphia,  he  said,  '  All  the  politi 
cal  sentiments  I  entertain  have  been  drawn,  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  draw  them,  from  the  sentiments  which  originated 
in  and  were  given  to  the  world  from  this  hall.  I  have  never 
had  a  feeling,  politically,  that  did  not  spring  from  the  senti 
ments  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.'*  But  the 
sentiments  of  the  Declaration  which  Mr.  Lincoln  emphasized 
are  not  simply  political  ideas — they  are  ethical  principles.  That 
'  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights  ;  that  among  these  are 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness' — these  are  prin 
ciples  of  natural  ethics,  sustained  by  the  august  sanctions  of 
that  God  who  is  '  no  respecter  of  persons.'  And  it  was  as 
truths  of  moral  obligation  that  Abraham  Lincoln  adopted  them 
as  the  rule  of  his  political  faith.  He  entered  into  public  life, 
thirty  years  ago,  with  the  distinct  avowal  of  the  doctrine  whose 
final  ratification  by  the  people  he  has  sealed  with  his  blood — 
that  'the  institution  of  slavery  is  founded  on  both  injustice  and 
bad  policy .'f  His  whole  life  was  true  to  that  conviction.  His 
great  campaign  for  the  senatorship,  in  1858,  was  conducted 
throughout  upon  moral  grounds.  '  I  confess  myself  as  belong 
ing  to  that  class  in  the  country  who  contemplate  slavery  as  a 
moral,  social,  and  political  evil,  having  due  regard  for  its  actual 
existence  among  us  and  the  difficulties  of  getting  rid  of  it  in 
any  satisfactory  way,  and  to  all  the  constitutional  obligations 
which  have  been  thrown  about  it ;  but  nevertheless,  desire  a 
policy  that  looks  to  the  prevention  of  it  as  a  wrong,  and  looks 
hopefully  to  the  time  when  as  a  wrong  it  may  come  to  an  end.':}: 
*  If  slavery  is  not  wrong  nothing  is  wrong.'§ 


*  Speech  of  21st  of  February,  1861. 

t  Protest  in  Illinois  House  of  Representatives,  March  3,  1837. 

J  Speech  at  Galeeburg,  October  7,  1858. 

\  Letter  so  A.  G.  Hodges,  Esq.,  of  Kentucky. 


HIS   LIFE,    CHARACTER   AND   WORK.  735 

"  '  Only  one  thing,'  said  he,  in  his  speech  at  Cooper  Institute, 
1  will  satisfy  our  opponents.  Cease  to  call  slavery  wrong,  and 
join  them  in  calling  it  light.  If  our  sense  of  duty  forbids  this, 
then  let  us  stand  by  our  duty,  fearlessly  and  effectively.  Let 
us  be  diverted  by  none  of  those  sophistical  contrivances  where 
with  we  are  so  industriously  plied  and  belabored — contrivances, 
such  as  groping  for  some  middle  ground  between  the  right 
and  the  wrong,  vain  as  the  search  for  a  man  who  should  be 
neither  a  living  man  nor  a  dead  man — such  as  a  policy  of 
'don't  care,'  on  a  question  about  which  all  true  men  do  care — 
such  as  Union  appeals,  beseeching  true  Union  men  to  yield  to 
disunionists,  reversing  the  divine  rule,  and  calling,  not  the  sin 
ners,  but  the  righteous  to  repentance — such  as  invocations  of 
Washington,  imploring  men  to  unsay  what  Washington  said, 
and  undo  what  Washington  did.  Neither  let  us  be  slandered 
from  our  duty  by  false  accusations  against  us,  nor  frightened 
from  it  by  menaces  of  destruction  to  the  government,  nor  of 
dungeons  to  ourselves.  Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes 
might ;  and  in  that  faith  let  us,  to  the  end,  dare  to  do  our  duty, 
as  we  understand  it.' 

"Mr.  Lincoln's  logic  was  pointed  with  wit,  and  his  ethical 
reasoning  was  often  set  home  by  a  pithy  story.  The  reputation 
of  a  story-teller  and  a  jester  was  turned  by  his  opponents  to 
his  disparagement ;  but  his  stories  were  philosophy  in  parables, 
and  his  jests  were  morals.  If  sometimes  they  smacked  of 
humble  life,  this  was  due  not  to  his  tastes  but  to  his  early  asso 
ciations.  His  wit  was  always  used  with  point  and  purpose ;  for 
the  boy  who  committed  all  Esop's  fables  to  memory  had  learned 
too  well  the  use  of  story  and  of  parable  to  forego  that  keen 
weapon  in  political  argument.  The  whole  people  took  his 
witty  caution  'not  to  swop  horses  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream.' 

"  The  base-born  plea  that  social  amalgamation  would  follow 
the  emancipation  of  the  negro,  he  met  by  a  rare  stroke  of  wit . 
'I  do  not  understand  that  because  I  do  not  want  a  negro 


736  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

woman  for  a  slave,  I  must  necessarily  want  her  for  a  wife.  My 
understanding  is  that  I  can  just  let  her  alone.  I  am  now  in 
my  fiftieth  year,  and  I  certainly  never  have  had  a  black  woman 
for  either  a  slave  or  a  wife.  So  it  seems  to  me  quite  possible 
for  us  to  get  along  without  making  either  slaves  or  wives  of 
negroes.  I  recollect  bat  one  distinguished  advocate  of  the 
perfect  equality  of  the  races,  and  that  is  Judge  Douglas's  old 
friend,  Colonel  Eichard  M.  Johnson.'* 

"Yet  Mr.  Lincoln's  wit  was  never  malicious  nor  rudely 
personal.  Once  when  Mr.  Douglas  had  attempted  to  parry  an 
argument  by  impeaching  the  veracity  of  a  Senator  whom  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  quoted,  he  answered,  that  the  question  was  not 
one  of  veracity,  but  simply  one  of  argument.  '  By  a  course 
of  reasoning,  Euclid  proves  that  all  the  angles  in  a  triangle  are 
equal  to  two  right  angles.  Now,  if  you  undertake  to  disprove 
that  proposition,  would  you  prove  it  to  be  false  by  calling 
Euclid  a  liar  ?'f 

v"  Passing  from  the  intellectual  traits  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  his 
moral  qualities,  we  find  in  these  the  same  providential  prepara 
tion  for  his  work,  through  long  years  of  hardy  training.  He 
was  of  a  meek  and  a  patient  spirit — both  prime  elements  in  a 
strong  character.  It  might  almost  be  said  of  him,  as  it  was 
said  of  Moses,  that  'he  was  meek  above  all  the  men  which 
were  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.'  The  early  discipline  of 
poverty,  toil,  and  sorrow,  accompanied  with  maternal  lessons 
of  submission  to  God,  had  taught  him  to  labor  and  to  wait  in 
the  patience  of  hope.  It  was  a  household  saying  of  his  mother, 
when  times  were  hard  and  days  were  dark,  'It  isn't  best  to 
borrow  too  much  trouble.  We  must  have  faith  in  God.'  And 
so  Abraham  learned  that '  it  is  good  for  a  man  that  he  bear  the 
yoke  in  his  youth  ;  and  it  is  good  that  a  man  should  both  hope 
and  quietly  wait  for  the  salvation  of  the  Lord.'  And  when  the 


*  Speech  at  Columbus,  February,  1859. 
f  Speech  at  Charleston,  September  18, 1858. 


HIS   LIFE,    CHARACTER   AND   WORK.  737 

joke  of  a  nation's  burdens  and  sorrows  was  laid  upon  his 
shoulders,  his  gentle,  patient  spirit  accepted  it  without  faltering 
and  without  repining.  He  did  not  borrow  too  much  trouble, 
but  had  faith  in  God.  Neither  the  violence  of  enemies,  nor  the 
impatience  and  distrust  of  friends,  could  irritate  him ;  neither 
the  threats  of  traitors,  nor  the  zeal  of  partisans,  could  disturb 
his  equanimity,  or  urge  him  faster  than  Providence,  speaking 
through  the  logic  of  events,  would  seem  to  lead  him.  '  Thy 
gentleness,'  said  the  Psalmist,  'hath  made  me  great;'  and  a 
certain  divine  gentleness  had  possessed  and  fortified  the  soul 
of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

"  Cheerfulness  was  with  him  a  moral  quality  as  well  as  the 
native  cast  of  his  temperament.  It  sprang  from  the  conscious 
ness  of  sincerity,  from  good  will  toward  men,  and  from  habitual 
trust  in  God.  His  playful  humor  sometimes  belied  him  ;  since 
no  man  was  farther  removed  from  levity  and  frivolity  of  mind. 
A  thoughtful  earnestness  prevaded  his  being — an  earnestness 
that  sometimes  verged  upon  sadness,  yet  never  sank  into 
rnoroseness.  It  was  a  cheerful  earnestness :  and  while  cheer 
fulness  was  the  tone  of  his  temperament,  he  cultivated  this 
quality  for  the  relief  of  his  own  mind,  and  for  the  stimulation 
of  others  against  despondency. 

"  I  shall  ever  cherish  among  the  brightest  memories  of  life, 
an  hour  in  his  working-room  last  September,  which  was  one 
broad  sheet  of  sunshine.  He  had  spent  the  morning  poring 
over  the  returns  of  a  court-martial  upon  capital  cases,  and 
studying  to  decide  them  according  to  truth ;  and  upon  the 
entrance  of  a  friend,  he  threw  himself  into  an  attitude  of  relax 
ation,  and  sparkled  with  good-humor.  I  will  not  repeat,  lest 
they  should  be  misconstrued,  his  trenchant  witticisms  upon 
political  topics  now  gone  by ;  yet  one  of  these  can  wound  no 
living  patriot.  I  spoke  of  the  rapid  rise  of  Union  feeling  since 
the  promulgation  of  the  Chicago  platform,  and  the  victory  at 
Atlanta ;  and  the  question  was  started,  which  had  contributed 
the  most  to  the  reviving  of  Union  sentiment — the  victory  or 
47 


738  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  platform.  '  I  guess,'  said  the  President, '  it  was  the  victory ; 
at  any  rate  I'd  rather  have  that  repeated.' 

"  Being  informed  of  the  death  of  John  Morgan,  he  said,  '  Well, 
I  wouldn't  crow  over  any  body's  death ;  but  I  can  take  this  as 
resignedly  as  any  dispensation  of  Providence.  Morgan  was  a 
coward,  a  nigger-driver ;  a  low  creature  such  as  you  northern 
men  know  nothing  about.'  „ 

"  The  political  horizon  was  still  overcast,  but  he  spoke  with 
unaffected  confidence  and  cheerfulness  of  the  result ;  saying 
with  emphasis,  '  I  rely  upon  the  religious  influence  of  the  coun 
try,  which  I  am  told  is  very  largely  for  me.' 

"  Even  in  times  of  deepest  solicitude,  he  maintained  this 
cheerful  serenity  before  others.  It  may  be  said  of  him,  as  of 
his  great  prototype,  William  of  Orange,  '  His  jocoseness  was 
partly  natural,  partly  intentional.  In  the  darkest  hours  of  his 
country's  trial,  he  affected  a  serenity  which  he  did  not  always 
feel,  so  that  his  apparent  gayety  at  momentous  epochs  was  even 
censured  by  dullards,  who  could  not  comprehend  its  philosophy. 
He  went  through  life  bearing  the  load  of  a  people's  sorrows 
upon  his  shoulders  with  a  smiling  face.' 

"  It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  what  was,  perhaps,  the  last  offi 
cial  act  of  the  President,  before  the  fatal  night,  was  performed 
in  this  spirit  of  joyousness.  The  Governor  of  Maryland  called 
upon  him  with  a  friend  late  on  Friday,  and  found  him  very 
cheerful  over  the  state  of  the  country  ;  at  the  close  of  the  inter 
view,  one  of  the  visitors  asked  a  little  favor  for  a  friend ;  the 
President  wrote  the  necessary  order,  and  said,  '  Any  thing  now 
to  make  the  people  happy.' 

"  His  kindness  and  sensibility  were  proverbial  almost  to  a 
fault.  Yet  no  other  single  trait  so  well  exhibits  the  majesty 
of  his  soul ;  for  it  was  not  a  sentimental  tenderness — the  mere 
weakness  of  a  sympathetic  nature — but  a  kindness  that  pro 
ceeded  from  an  intelligent  sympathy  and  good  will  for  human 
ity,  and  a  Christian  hatred  of  all  injustice  and  wrong.  He  once 
said,  in  a  political  speech  :  '  The  Saviour,  I  suppose,  did  not  ex- 


HIS   LIFE,    CHARACTER,    AND   WORKS.  739 

pect  that  any  human  creature  could  be  perfect  as  the  Father  in 
heaven ;  but  he  said,  As  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect,  be 
ye  also  perfect.  He  set  that  up  as  a  standard,  and  he  who  did 
most  toward  reaching  that  standard  attained  the  highest  degree 
of  moral  perfection.'  With  a  noble  contempt  for  political 
prejudices,  and  with  a  touching  moral  simplicity,  Mr:  Lincoln 
avowed  this  principle  in  his  treatment  of  the  negro :  '  In  point 
ing  out  that  more  has  been  given  you  (by  the  Creator),  you 
cannot  be  justified  in  taking  away  the  little  which  has  been  given 
him.  If  God  gave  him  but  little,  that  little  let  him  enjoy.  In 
the  right  to  eat  the  bread,  without  the  leave  of  any  body  else, 
which  his  own  hand  earns,  he  is  my  equal,  and  the  equal  of 
Judge  Douglas,  and  the  equal  of  every  living  man.' 

"  In  his  highest  prosperity  he  never  forgot  his  kindred  with 
men  of  low  estate.  Amid  all  the  cares  of  office  his  ear  was 
always  open  to  a  tale  of  sorrow  or  of  wrong,  and  his  hand  was 
always  ready  to  relieve  suffering  and  to  remedy  injustice.  I 
seem  to  see  him  now,  leaning  against  the  railing  that  divides 
the  war-office  from  the  White  House,  while  the  carriage  is 
waiting  at  the  door,  and  listening  to  the  grievance  of  a  plain 
man,  then  sitting  down  upon  the  coping  and  writing  on  a  card 
an  order  to  have  the  case  investigated  and  remedied.  An  un 
dignified  position,  do  you  say  ?  It  was  the  native  dignity  of 
kindness. 
****** 

"Akin  to  this  kindliness  and  sensibility  was  his  magnaminity 
of  soul.  'I  would  despise  myself/ said  he  in  his  debate  with 
Douglas,  '  if  I  supposed  myself  ready  to  deal  less  liberally  with 
an  adversary  than  I  was  willing  to  be  treated  myself.'  And 
again  he  said :  '  If  I  have  stated  any  thing  erroneous — if  I 
have  brought  forward  any  thing  not  a  fact — it  needed  only  that 
Judge  Douglas  should  point  it  out,  it  will  not  even  ruffle  me  to 
take  it  back.  I  do  not  deal  in  that  way.' 

'•  How  magnanimously   he  disclaimed  personal  praise,  and 


740  THE    LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

accorded  honor  to  others.  You  will  at  once  recall  his  letter  to 
General  Grant  after  the  capture  of  Yicksburg : 

"  '  I  do  not  remember  that  you  and  I  ever  met  personally. 
I  write  this  now  as  a  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  almost 
inestimable  service  you  have  done  the  country.  I  write  to  say 
a  word  further.  .  .  .  When  you  took  Port  Gibson,  Grand 
Gulf,  and  vicinity,  I  thought  you  should  go  down  the  river  and 
join  General  Banks,  and  when  you  turned  northward,  east  of 
the  Big  Black,  I  feared  it  was  a  mistake.  I  now  wish  to  make 
the  personal  acknowledgment,  that  you  were  right  and  I  was 
wrong.' 

"  How  gently  he  assuaged  the  tumult  of  party  strifes  by  his 
tone  of  magnanimity  toward  his  defeated  opponent,  in  acknow 
ledging  a  popular  ovation  rendered  him  upon  his  re-election  to 
the  Presidency. 

"  Such  was  the  whole  spirit  of  his  public  life,  culminating  at 
last  in  an  utterance  which  shall  be  immortal — '  WITH  MALICE 

TOWARD  NONE,  WITH  CHARITY  FOR  ALL.' 

"  The  inflexible  integrity  of  Mr.  Lincoln  has  imprinted  itself 
upon  the  heart  and  the  history  of  the  American  people,  in  that 
familiar,  but  honorable  epithet,  •  Honest  Abe.'  His  was  not 
simply  a  commercial  honesty,  in  dollars  and  cents,  but  honesty 
in  opinion,  honesty  in  speech,  honesty  of  purpose,  honesty  in 
action.  '  Always  speak  the  truth,  my  son,'  said  his  mother  to 
him,  when  in  her  Sabbath  readings  she  expounded  the  ninth 
commandment.  '  I  do  tell  the  truth,'  was  his  uniform  reply. 

"  When  Douglas  attempted  to  impeach  a  statement  of  a  brother 
Senator,  who  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  personal  friend,  Lincoln 
replied,  '  I  am  ready  to  indorse  him,  because,  neither  in  that 
thing  nor  in  any  other,  in  all  the  years  that  I  have  known 
Lyman  Trumbull,  have  I  known  him  to  fail  of  his  word,  or  tell 
a  falsehood,  large  or  small :'  and  that  to  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
a  certificate  of  character. 

"His  integrity  carried  him  through  arduous  political  cam 
paigns,  without  the  shadow  of  deviation  from  principle.  He 


HIS   LIFE,    CHARACTER   AND   WORK.  741 

adopted  great  principles  and  by  these  he  was  willing  to  live  or 
die.  His  debate  with  Douglas,  as  I  before  said,  was  throughout 
a  struggle  for  principle — the  principle  that  slavery  was  wrong, 
and  therefore  that  the  nation  should  not  sanction  it  nor  suffer 
its  extension.  '  I  do  not  claim,'  he  said,  '  to  be  unselfish  ;  I  do 
not  pretend  that  I  would  not  like  to  go  to  the  United  States 
Senate ;  I  make  no  such  hypocritical  pretence,  but  I  do  say  to 
you  that  in  this  mighty  issue,  it  is  nothing  to  you,  nothing  to 
the  mass  of  the  people  of  the  nation,  whether  or  not  Judge 
Douglas  or  myself  shall  ever  be  heard  of  after  this  night ;  it  may 
be  a  trifle  to  either  of  us,  but  in  connection  with  this  mighty 
question,  upon  which  hang  the  destinies  of  the  nation  perhaps, 
it  is  absolutely  nothing/ 

"  When  about  to  assume  the  grave  responsibilities  of  the 
Presidency,  he  said  to  his  fellow  citizens,  '  I  promise  you  that 
I  bring  to  the  work  a  sincere  heart.  Whether  I  will  bring  a 
head  equal  to  that  heart  will  be  for  future  times  to  determine.'* 
That  his  head  was  equal  to  his  task  all  now  agree  ;  but  it  is 
far  more  to  his  honor  that  through  all  the  temptations  of  office, 
he  held  fast  his  integrity.  One  who  was  much  with  him,  testi 
fies  that  '  in  every  thing  he  did  he  was  governed  by  his  con 
science,  and  when  ambition  intruded,  it  was  thrust  aside  by 
his  conviction  of  right.7  What  he  said  he  did,  '  without  shadow 
of  turning.'  He  was  as  firm  for  the  right  as  he  was  forbearing 
toward  the  wrong-doer.  How  solemn  his  appeal  to  the  seceders, 
at  the  close  of  his  first  inaugural :  '  You  have  no  oath  registered 
in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government;  while  I  shall  have  the  most 
solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect  and  defend  it.'  That  oath  he 
kept  with  all  honesty  and  fidelity. 

"  This  honesty  of  principle  inspired  him  with  true  moral 
heroism.  Abraham  Lincoln  always  met  his  duty  as  calmly  as 
he  met  his  death.  He  knew,  at  any  time  in  the  last  four  years, 
that  to  do  his  duty  would  be  to  court  death ;  but  in  his  first 

*  Speech  at  Philadelphia,  February  20,  1861. 


74.2  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

message  he  laid  down  the  moral  consideration  that  overruled 
all  personal  fears :  '  As  a  private  citizen  the  Executive  could 
hot  have  consented  that  these  institutions  shall  perish ;  much 
less  could  he,  in  betrayal  of  so  vast  and  so  sacred  a  trust  as 
these  free  people  had  confided  to  him.  He  felt  that  he  had  no 
moral  right  to  shrink,  nor  even  to  count  the  chances  of  his  own 
life  in  what  might  follow.  In  full  view  of  his  great  responsi 
bility  he  has  so  far  done  what  he  has  deemed  his  duty.  Hav 
ing  thus  chosen  our  course  without  guile,  and  with  pure  purpose, 
let  us  renew  our  trust  in  God,  and  go  forward  without  fear  and 
with  manly  hearts.'  " 

Bishop  Simpson  has  quoted  from  a  speech  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  in  1839,  a  declaration  of  the  most  heroic  patri 
otism  : 

"  Of  the  slave  power  he  said,  *  Broken  by  it  ?  I  too  may  be 
asked  to  bow  to  it.  I  never  will.  The  probability  that  we 
may  fail  in  the  struggle,  ought  not  to  deter  us  from  the  support 
of  a  cause  which  I  deern  to  be  just.  It  shall  not  deter  me.  If 
I  ever  feel  the  soul  within  me  elevate  and  expand  to  dimensions 
not  wholly  unworthy  of  its  Almighty  architect,  it  is  when  I 
contemplate  the  cause  of  my  country  deserted  by  all  the  world 
beside,  and  I  standing  up  boldly  and  alone,  and  hurling  defi 
ance  at  her  victorious  oppressors.  Here,  without  contemplating 
consequences,  before  high  heaven,  and  in  the  face  of  the  world,  I 
swear  eternal  fidelity  to  the  just  cause,  as  J  deem  it,  of  the  land 
of  my  life,  my  liberty, -and  my  love.' 

"  With  what  a  lofty  courage,  too,  did  he  stand  by  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  those  to  whom  he  was  pledged  by  his  procla 
mation  of  January  1,  1863. 

"  What  nobler  words  could  be  inscribed  upon  his  monument 
than  these  from  his  last  message :  '  I  repeat  the  declaration 
made  a  year  ago,  that  while  I  remain  in  my  present  position  I 
shall  not  attempt  to  retract  or  modify  the  emancipation  procla 
mation.  Nor  shall  I  return  to  slavery  any  person  who  is  free 


HIS   LIFE,    CHARACTER   AND   WORK.  743 

by  the  terms  of  that  proclamation,  or  by  any  of  the  acts  of 
Congress.  If  the  people  should,  by  whatever  mode  or  means, 
make  it  an  executive  duty  to  re-enslave  such  persons,  another, 
and  not  I,  must  be  their  instrument  to  perform  it.' 

"  It  was  that  decree  of  emancipation  that  inspired  the  hatred 
that  compassed  his  murder.  Yet  from  the  day  of  his  nomina 
tion  he  had  been  marked  for  a  violent  death ;  and  knowing 
this,  he  had  devoted  his  life  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  At  Inde 
pendence  Hall,  in  Philadelphia,  he  said,  in  1861,  'Can  this 
country  be  saved  upon  the  basis  of  the  sentiment  embodied  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  ?  If  it  can,  I  will  consider 
myself  one  of  the  happiest  men  in  the  world,  if  I  can  help  to 
save  it.  If  it  cannot  be  saved  on  that  principle  it  will  be  truly 
awful.  But  if  this  country  cannot  be  saved  without  giving  up 
that  principle,  I  was  about  to  say  /  would  rather  be  assassinated 
on  this  spot  than  surrender  it.  I  have  said  nothing  but  what  I 
am  willing  to  live  by,  and,  if  it  be  the  pleasure  of  Almighty 
God,  to  die  by.' 

"A  calm  trust  in  God  was  the  loftiest,  worthiest  character 
istic  in  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  had  learned  this  long 
ago.  '  I  would  rather  Abe  would  be  able  to  read  the  Bible 
than  to  own  a  farm,  if  he  can't  have  but  one,'  said  his  godly 
mother.  That  Bible  was  Abraham  Lincoln's  guide.  Mr.  Jay 
informs  me,  that  being  on  the  steamer  which  conveyed  the  gov 
ernmental  party  from  Fortress  Monroe  to  Norfolk,  after  the 
destruction  of  the  Merrimac,  while  all  on  board  were  excited 
by  the  novelty  of  the  excursion  and  by  the  incidents  that  it 
recalled,  he  missed  the  President  from  the  company,  and,  on 
looking  about,  found  him  in  a  quiet  nook,  reading  a  well-worn 
Testament.  Such  an  incidental  revelation  of  his  religious 
habits  is  worth  more  than  pages  of  formal  testimony. 

"The  constant  recognition  of  God  in  his  public  documents 
shows  how  completely  his  mind  was  under  the  dominion  of 
religious  faith.  This  is  never  a  common-place  formalism  nor  a 
misplaced  cant.  To  satisfy  ourselves  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Christian 


744  THE     LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

character,  we  have  no  need  to  resort  to  apocryphal  stories  that 
illustrate  the  assurance  of  his  victories  quite  as  much  as  the 
simplicity  of  his  faith  ;  we  have  but  to  follow  internal  evidences, 
as  the  workings  of  his  soul  reveal  themselves  through  his  own 
published  utterances.  On  leaving  Springfield  for  the  capital, 
he  said : 

"  'A  duty  devolves  upon  me  which  is,  perhaps,  greater  than 
that  which  has  devolved  upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of 
Washington.  He  never  would  have  succeeded  except  for  the 
aid  of  divine  Providence,  upon  which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I 
feel  that  I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same  divine  aid  which 
sustained  him,  and  on  the  same  Almighty  Being  I  place  my 
reliance  for  support;  and  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  all  pray 
that  I  may  receive  that  divine  assistance,  without  which  I 
cannot  succeed,  but  with  which  success  is  certain.' 

"  He  knew  himself  to  be  surrounded  by  a  religious  community 
who  were  acquainted  with  his  life,  and  his  words  were  spoken 
in  all  sincerity. 

"At  Gettysburg,  with  a  grand  simplicity  worthy  of  Demos 
thenes,  he  dedicated  himself  with  religious  earnestness  to  the 
great  task  yet  before  him,  in  humble  dependence  upon  God. 
Owning  the  power  of  vicarious  sacrifice,  he  said,  '  We  cannot 
dedicate,  we  cannot  consecrate,  we  cannot  hallow  this  ground. 
The  brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  con 
secrated  it  far  above  our  power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world 
will  little  note,  nor  long  remember,  what  we  say  here,  but  it 
can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living, 
rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work  that  they 
have  thus  far  so  nobly  carried  on.' 

"  We  distinctly  trace  the  growth  of  this  feeling  of  religious 
consecration  in  his  public  declarations:  'We  can  but  press 
on,  guided  by  the  best  light  God  gives  us,  trusting  that  in  his 
own  good  time  and  wise  way,  all  will  be  well.  Let  us  not 
be  over-sanguine  of  a  speedy,  final  triumph.  Let  us  be  quite 
sober.  Let  us  diligently  apply  the  means,  never  doubting  that 


HIS   LIFE,    CHARACTER   AND   WORK.  745 

a  just  God,  in  his  own  good  time,  will  give  us  the  rightful 
result.'*  '  The  nation's  condition  is  not  what  either  party  or 
any  man  desired  or  expected.  God  alone  can  claim  it 
Whither  it  is  tending  seems  plain.  If  God  now  wills  the  re 
moval  of  a  great  wrong,  and  wills  also  that  we  of  the  North,  as 
well  as  you  of  the  South,  shall  pay  fairly  for  our  complicity  in 
that  wrong,  impartial  history  will  find  therein  new  cause  t  > 
attest  and  revere  the  justice  and  goodness  of  God.'f  This 
devout  feeling  culminated  at  length  in  that  sublime  confession 
of  faith,  of  humility,  of  dependence,  of  consecration,  known  as 
his  last  inaugural.  It  is  said,  upon  good  authority,  that  had  he 
lived,  he  would  have  made  a  public  profession  of  his  -  faith  in 
Christ.  But  Abraham  Lincoln  needed  no  other  confession 
than  that  which  he  made  on  the  4th  of  March  last  in  the  hear 
ing  of  all  nations. 

"A  Christian  lady,  who  was  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
religious  tone  of  the  inaugural,  requested,  through  a  friend  in 
Congress,  that  the  President  would  give  her  his  autograph  by 
the  very  pen  that  wrote  that  now  immortal  document,  adding 
that  her  sons  should  be  taught  to  repeat  its  closing  paragraph 
with  their  catechism.  The  President,  with  evident  emotion, 
replied,  '  She  shall  have  my  signature,  and  with  it  she  shall 
have  that  paragraph.  It  comforts  me  to  know  that  rny  senti 
ments  are  supported  by  the  Christian  ladies  of  our  country.' 

"  His  pastor  at  Washington,  after  being  near  him  steadily,  and 
with  him  often  for  more  than  four  years,  bears  this  testimony : 
'  I  speak  what  I  know,  and  testify  what  I  have  often  heard  him 
say,  when  I  affirm  the  guidance  and  the  mercy  of  God  were  the 
props  on  which  he  humbly  and  habitually  leaned ;'  and  that 
'his  abiding  confidence  in  God  and  in  the  final  triumph  of 
truth  and  righteousness  through  him  and  for  his  sake,  was  his 
noblest  virtue,  his  grandest  principle,  the  secret  alike  of  his 
strength,  his  patience,  and  his  success.' 

"  Thus  trained  of  God  for  his  great  work,  and  called  of  God 

*  Letter  to  Kentucky.  f  Letter  to  A.  G.  Hodges,  April,  1864. 


746  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

in  the  fulness  of  time,  how  grandly  did  Abraham  Lincoln 
meet  his  responsibilities  and  round  up  his  life.  How  he  grew 
under  pressure.  How  often  did  his  patient  heroism  in  the 
earlier  years  of  the  war  serve  us  in  the  stead  of  victories.  He 
carried  our  mighty  sorrows ;  while  he  never  knew  rest,  nor  the 
enjoyment  of  office.  How  wisely  did  his  cautious,  sagacious, 
comprehensive  judgment  deliver  us  from  the  perils  of  haste. 
How  clearly  did  he  discern  the  guiding  hand  and  the  unfolding 
will  of  God.  How  did  he  tower  above  the  storm  in  his  un 
selfish  patriotism,  resolved  to  save  the  unity  of  the  nation.  And 
when  the  day  of  duty  and  of  opportunity  came,  how  firmly  did 
he  deal  the  last  great  blow  for  liberty,  striking  the  shackles  from 
three  million  slaves ;  while  '  upon  this,  sincerely  believed  to  be 
an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution  (upon  military 
necessity),  he  invoked  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind, 
and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God.'  Rightly  did  he  re 
gard  this  Proclamation  as  the  central  act  of  his  administration, 
and  the  central  fact  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Let  it  be 
engraved  upon  our  walls,  upon  our  hearts;  let  the  scene  adorn 
the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol — henceforth  a  sacred  shrine  of 
liberty.  It  needed  only  that  the  seal  of  martyrdom  upon  such 
a  life  should  cause  his  virtues  to  be  transfigured  before  us  in 
imperishable  grandeur,  and  his  name  to  be  emblazoned  with 
heaven's  own  light  upon  that  topmost  arch  of  fame,  which  shall 
stand  when  governments  and  nations  fall, 

"  Moderate,  resolute, 
Whoje  in  himself,  a  common  good. 
Mourn  for  the  man  of  amplest  influence, 
Yet  clearest  of  ambitious  crime, 
Our  greatest  yet  with  least  pretence, 
Kich  in  saving  common-sense, 
And  as  the  greatest  only  are, 
In  his  simplicity  sublime. 

Who  never  sold  the  truth,  to  serve  the  hour, 
Nor  paltered  with  Eternal  God  for  power — 


HIS   LIFE,    CHARACTER   AND   WORK.  747 

Who  let  the  turbid  streams  of  rumor  flow 
Thro'  either  babbling  world  of  high  and  low ; 
Whose  life  was  work,  whose  language  rife 
With  rugged  maxims  hewn  from  life  ; 
Who  never  spoke  against  a  foe." 


To  this  brilliant  estimate  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  and 
character,  let  us  add  the  glowing  and  comprehensive 
"summing  up"  of  his  life's  work,  as  presented  in  the 
eloquent  language  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  K.  S.  Stone,  in 
a  public  oration  delivered  in  the  Brooklyn  Academy  of 
Music,  July  4th,  1865  : 

"Such  was  the  man  for  whom  we  mourn;  and  such  the 
position  in  which  Providence  had  placed  him.  Think,  then,  a 
moment  of  the  work  which  he  wrought  in  it. 


D 


"  How  singular  it  is  among  the  recorded  achievements  of 
man !  How  plainly  is  revealed  in  it  a  higher  any  than  human 
will,  laying  out  and  arranging  the  mighty  scheme !  When  he 
took  in  hand  the  reins  of  the  government,  the  finances  of  the 
country  seemed  hopelessly  deranged,  and  after  many  years  of 
peace  it  was  difficult  to  raise  money,  at  unprecedented  interest, 
for  its  daily  use.  And  when  he  died — after  such  expenditures 
as  no  man  had  dreamed  of  through  four  long  years  of  devasta 
ting  war — the  credit  of  the  republic  was  so  firmly  established 
that  foreign  markets  were  clamorous  for  its  bond^,  and  the  very 
worst  thing  that  could  have  happened — his  own  destruction — 
did  not-  depress,  by  one  hair's  breadth,  the  absolute  confidence 
of  our  own  people  in  them.  When  he  came  to  Washington, 
the  navy  at  the  command  of  the  government  was  scattered, 
almost  beyond  recall,  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  was  even 
ludicrously  insufficient  for  instant  needs.  He  left  it  framed  of 
iron  instead  of  oak,  with  wholly  new  principles  expressed  in 
its  structure,  and  large  enough  to  bind  the  continent  in  blockade, 


748  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

while  it  made  the  national  flag  familiar  on  every  sea  which 
commerce  crosses.  He  found  an  army  mostly  dispersed,  al 
most  hopelessly  disorganized  by  the  treachery  of  its  officers ; 
with  hardly  enough  of  it  left  at  hand  to  furnish  a  body-guard 
for  his  march  to  the  capital.  He  left  a  half  million  of  men  in 
arms,  after  the  losses  of  fifty  campaigns,  with  valor,  discipline, 
arms,  and  generalship  unequalled  in  the  world,  and  admonitory 
to  it.  He  found  our  diplomacy  a  by-word  and  a  hissing  in 
most  of  the  principal  foreign  courts ;  he  made  it  intelligent, 
influential,  respected  wherever  a  civilized  language  is  spoken. 
In  his  moral  and  political  achievements  at  home  he  was  still 
more  successful.  He  found  the  arts  of  industry  prostrated, 
almost  paralyzed,  indeed,  by  the  arrest  of  commerce,  the  repu 
diation  of  debts,  the  universal  distrust.  He  left  them  so 
trained,  tutored,  and  developed  that  henceforth  they  are  secure 
amid  the  world's  competition.  He  came  to  Washington  through 
a  people  morally  rent  and  disorganized;  of  whom  it  was 
known  that  a  part  at  least  were  in  fall  accord  with  the  disloyal 
plans,  and  concerning  whom  it  was  feared  by  many,  and  pre 
dicted  by  some,  that  the  slightest  pressure  from  the  govern 
ment  upon  them  would  resolve  them  at  once  into  fighting 
factions.  He  laid  heavy  taxes,  he  drafted  them  into  armies,  he 
made  no  effort  to  excite  their  admiration,  he  seemed  to  throw 
down  even  the  ancient  monuments  of  their  personal  liberty ; 
and  he  went  back  to  his  grave  through  the  very  same  people, 
so  knit  into  one  by  their  love  for  each  other  and  their  reverence 
for  him,  that  the  cracking  of  the  continent  hardly  could  part 
them.  At  his  entrance  on  his  office,  he  found  the  leaders  of 
the  largest,  fiercest,  most  tenacious  rebellion  known  to  history, 
apparently  in  all  things  superior  to  himself;  in  capacity, 
in  culture,  in  political  experience,  in  control  over  men,  in 
general  weight  with  the  country  itself;  and  when  he  was 
assassinated,  he  left  them  so  utterly  overthrown  and  discomfited 
rthat  they  fled  over  sea  or  hid  themselves  in  women's  skirts. 
A  power  it  had  taken  fifty  years  to  mature — a  power  that  put 
every  thing  into  the  contest — money,  men,  harbors,  homes. 


HIS   LIFE,    CHARACTER   AND  WORK.  749 

churches,  cities,  States  themselves — and  that  fought  with  a  fury 
never  surpassed,  he  not  only  crushed,  but  extinguished  in  four 
years.  A  court  that  had  been  the  chief  bulwark  of  slavery,  he 
so  re-organized  as  to  make  it  a  citadel  of  liberty  and  light  for 
all  time  to  come.  He  found  a  race  immured  in  a  bondage  that 
had  lasted  already  two  hundred  years,  and  had  only  been  com 
pacted  and  fortified  by  invention  and  commerce,  by  arts,  by 
legislation,  by  social  usage,  by  ethnic  theories,  and  even  by 
what  was  called  religion;  he  pretended  to  no  special  fondness 
for  the  race ;  he  refused  to  make  war  in  its  behalf;  but  he  took 
it  up  cheerfully  in  the  sweep  of  his  plans,  and  left  it  a  race  of 
free  workers  and  soldiers.  He  came  to  the  capital  of  an 
empire  severed  by  what  seemed  to  the  world  eternal  lines; 
with  sectional  interests  and  irremovable  hatreds  forbidding  re 
construction.  He  left  it  the  capital  of  an  empire  so  restored 
that  the  thought  of  its  division  is  henceforth  an  absurdity ; 
with  its  unity  more  complete  than  that  of  Great  Britain ;  with 
its  flag  and  its  unchallenged  rule  supreme  again  from  the  lakes 
to  the  gulf.  Nay,  he  found  a  nation  that  had  lost  in  a  measure 
its  primitive  faith  in  the  grand  ideas  of  its  own  Constitution ; 
and  he  left  that  nation  so  instructed  and  renewed,  so  aware  of 
the  supremacy  of  principles  over  forces,  so  committed  to  the 
justice  and  the  liberty  which  its  founders  had  valued,  that  the 
era  of  his  power  has  been  the  era  of  its  new  birth ;  that  its 
history  forever  will  be  noble  and  more  luminous  for  his 
inspirations. 

"  From  the  topmost  achievment  yet  realized  of  man,  he  has 
stepped  to  the  skies.  He  leads  henceforth  the  hosts  whom 
he  marshalled,  and  who  at  his  word  went  forth  to  battle,  on 
plains  invisible  to  our  short  sight.  He  stands  side  by  side, 
once  more,  with  the  orator,  so  cultured  and  renowned,  with 
whom  he  stood  on  the  heights  of  Gettysburg ;  but  now  on 
hills  where  rise  no  graves,  and  on  which  march  in  shining  ranks, 
with  trumpet-swell  and  palms  of  triumph,  immortal  hosts.  He 
is  with  the  fathers  and  founders  of  the  republic,  whose  cherished 
plans  he  carried  out;  whose  faith  and  hope  had,  in  his  work, 


750  THE   LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

their  great  fruition.  He  is  with  all  the  great  builders  of  States, 
who,  working  in  earnest  faith  and  hope,  and  with  true  conse 
oration,  have  laid  the  foundations  of  human  progress  and  made 
mankind  their  constant  debtors.  The  heavens  are  his  home, 
but  the  world  and  its  records  will  take  care  of  his  fame ;  for  of 
all  whom  he  meets  and  dwells  with  there,  no  one  has  held  a 
higher  trust,  no  one  has  been  more  loyal  to  it,  no  one  has  left 
a  work  behind  more  rich  and  vast ;  and  so  long  as  the  govern 
ment  which  he  re-established  shall  continue  to  endure,  so  long 
as  the  continent  which  he  made  again  the  home  of  one  nation, 
shall  hold  that  nation  within  its  compass  and  shall  continue  to 
attract  to  its  bosom  the  liberty-loving  from  every  land,  so  long 
as  the  people  which  he  emancipated  shall  make  the  palmetto 
and  the  orange  tree  quiver  with  the  hymns  of  its  jubilee,  so  long 
as  the  race  which  he  has  set  forward  shall  continue  to  advance 
through  brightening  paths  to  the  future  that  waits  for  its  swift 
steps,  a  fame  as  familiar  as  any  among  men,  a  character  as  dis 
tinguished  and  an  influence  as  wide,  will  be  the  fame,  the 
character,  and  the  influence  of  him  who  came  four  years  ago, 
an  unknown  man  from  his  home  in  the  West,  but  who  has  now 
written  in  letters  of  light  on  pages  as  grand  and  as  splendid 
as  any  in  the  history  of  the  world,  the  illustrious  name  of 
AIRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


THE     END. 


AN  7     1957 


50-6687RCO 


JAN  11 1958 


UL14196676 


T  L 


1 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

;  •  '    " 


